What with all the marvelous opportunities to waste time, especially online (Cute Overload is at the top of my list), sometimes we need extra motivation to stay focused on what really matters. And sometimes it's hard to judge how important a project really is, all things being equal.
Robert Middleton's excellent marketing blog has a thoughtful post about global warming and the very real possibilty of catastrophe. When the ocean levels rise and there's no fresh water to drink; what will be worth spending time on? If there's no food in the supermarket and energy becomes prohibitively expensive, companies would go out of business and there wouldn't be any reason to do that report anymore.
Don't succumb to gloom and doom. I just meant this as a reality check about how you spend your time, and a reminder that spending time working to mitigate ecological disaster is time well spent. As Middleton quotes Margaret Mead: "I must admit that I personally measure success in terms of the contributions an individual makes to her or his fellow human beings."
I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I sponsor an eight-year-old girl in Rwanda, and writing to her, I end up throwing out a lot of my "about me" descriptions, just because they wouldn't make sense in her context.
How do I explain that I'm a web developer, that I build "virtual real estate," to a kid who only recently has had enough to eat? Or going to a gym to exercise? These things seem very absurd when I really put them in perspective.
I don't want to get all "doom and gloom" about it, but it does help me remember to take time for things that actually matter in the big scheme of things.
Posted by: Sarah | September 12, 2006 8:39 PM | Permalink to Comment