September

It’s the first week of autumn. Rain falls down, and I finally gave up my summer shorts and sandals a couple of days ago.

September is a curious month: it’s sad to accept that the summer you waited for so long is over, yet the month is full of excitement for what lies ahead — like a mini new year. School starts for those studying, and we realize that there is only four more months left of this year. So we go back to our plans to see if we’ve made it or not, hoping still to be able to make the most out of the remaining months.

This is how much an arbitrary idea such as the time it takes the earth to go a full circle around the sun shapes our thoughts and actions.

I suppose we could say it doesn’t have to be so. The concept of a year is rather random: on a different planet, or just a different time zone we’d be counting time quite differently. Following the advice of smarter people before us, we could leave the plans for now and focus living in the moment.

Leo Babauta is a big proponent of goal free living. In his current way of doing things, instead of extensive five-year plans, he works on the things that excite him today. It’s an interesting idea, and probably worth testing.

Then again, it’s also good to remember that Leo hasn’t always been living this way. In fact, to get to the point in life where he is able to live goal free, he has been one of the most successful goal setter and achievers in the personal development niche.

And finally no matter how we go about planning, I believe that to be human means to dream. Big dreams for what this world needs to be are the best guide for both planning and goal-free living.

Dream big, notice the small, and have a great September!