• Home
  • /
  • Blog
  • /
  • “How Long Will It Take?” Vs. “How Long Can I Savor It?”

“How Long Will It Take?” Vs. “How Long Can I Savor It?”


The other day, I was talking with my college friend Jeff, whose athletic spirit has always impressed me. He is pushing his mid-60s, telling me he’s about to embark upon the 250-mile John Muir Trail for an extended hiking and camping trip.

Whoa! I can only imagine what that would be like wearing my post-prostatectomy Depends. Even without the diapers, I can’t imagine it.

Curious about this calendar commitment, I asked Jeff, “How long will it take?” He paused, smiled, and politely corrected me by saying he was approaching this with a different question, “How long can I savor it?” Whoa, again! That’s a whole different perspective and one that got me thinking:

How many parts of my life do I focus on the transactional as opposed to the transformational? In other words:

How will I survive my in-law’s visit?

VS.

What emotions will I improve as a result of my in-laws staying with me?

And as long as I’m asking that question, I might as well go one deeper: How might I look for the upside when my brain habitually focuses on the downside or the problem-solving?

Of course, I ultimately coaxed an answer out of Jeff. He said, “I’ve calculated it will take 24 days but with a soft back-end in my calendar.” Dude, you will not have a soft back-end after hiking 250 miles. LOL.

Discover More Wisdom

May 29, 2022

For those of you who are devoted Wisdom Well readers, you’ve probably heard me ...

“No One Ever Became Wise by Chance.”
{"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}

Choose Your Path to Midlife Mastery