To be inwardly rich is much more arduous than to be outwardly rich and famous; it needs much more care, much closer attention. If you have a little talent and know how to exploit it, you become famous; but inward richness does not come about in that way. To be inwardly rich the mind has to understand and put away the things that are not important, like wanting to be famous. Inward richness implies standing alone; but the man who wants to be famous is afraid to stand alone because he depends on people’s flattery and good opinion.” —Krishnamurti, Think on these Things
October 2010
To be inwardly rich is much more arduous than to be outwardly rich and famous; it needs much more care, much closer attention. If you have a little talent and know how to exploit it, you become famous; but inward richness does not come about in that way. To be inwardly rich the mind has to understand and put away the things that are not important, like wanting to be famous. Inward richness implies standing alone; but the man who wants to be famous is afraid to stand alone because he depends on people’s flattery and good opinion.” —Krishnamurti, Think on these Things
(click on the link for a GREAT article on procrastination)
Some of you may be proud procrastinators. You may think that you are like that guy (or perhaps you were that guy) in school who always came to class late or high or not at all, then at the end of the course would always ace the tests and turn in groundbreaking essays. If it works well for you, if the time pressure brings out your best work, the most productivity, and you are happy that way, then so be it.
But to many of us, procrastination is a bitch. We lament the fact that we put things off to the last minute. We turn in a lackluster essay or article, or project, and deem it “good enough” by our own standards, since we “didn’t really have the time.” But ask yourself, is it really good enough? Whatever you turn in, is it indicative of your full potential? Often the answer is no.
I have this problem. I make hundreds of plans - to empty out my closet, to swim 3 times a week, to do yoga and Pilates every morning, to organize my portfolio, to write my artist’s statement, to wash that pile of dirty dishes, to do my laundry. But something else more momentarily gratifying always comes up: a night out with friends, socializing of facebook, reading blogs and news sites, eating fried cuttlefish, drinking summer wine.
As the article states, when we choose these immediate gratification, we are only pulling ourselves farther from our idealized future. We think that we will have more time later to take care of everything. Next week, I will have more time to exercise. But what actually happens? Next week will be just as busy as this week, and another week, another month, will pass before I do anything.
So, now that I realized all this, and I want to change, I’ll have to be more vigilant of making the right choices for myself. What should I eat for lunch today? Home-cooked french fries sound damn appetizing. But I also have a bowl of salad that’s only going to go bad if I don’t eat it.
But first, let me check my email. And my facebook. And see if there are any new articles up on Gawker. And also…