What are you planning around?

What are you planning around?

Awhile back I saw a runner enter a café with the following printed on the back of her t-shirt:?

I used to plan running around my life, now I plan my life around running.?

At first it sounded like obvious satire?—?who can realistically plan life’s obligations around something like running??

But then I thought to myself: “why not?”?

In his book Meditations for Mortals, Oliver Burkeman urges his readers to pay themselves first?—?not with their money, as many a financial advisor would stress, but with their time.?

When we choose to wait for our problems to magically disappear or for our to-do lists to conveniently shrink before spending our limited life energy on something meaningful, we end up waiting forever.?

Therefore, Burkeman as well as the runner it would seem, contend that deciding something is a priority right now and acting accordingly in spite of whatever problems we may have to deal with isn’t as absurd or irresponsible a proposition as it may sound.?

In fact, it’s probably the more rationale thing to do.?


The Daily Spark exists for two reasons:

  1. To document one idea every day that I've found helpful in my life.
  2. To inspire you to discover what matters most and to take action towards it

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About me:

I'm a second-generation Taiwanese American trying to find life’s greatest sources of meaning and make the most out of it

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