Don't Keep Patching The Holes

Once upon a time there was a fisherman that has a sinking boat. He kept patching the new holes day after day, that somehow continue to happen in his boat. He is patching one hole after another. He can't focus fishing because these holes are making his boat sinking deeper and deeper.

His friend see this, and simply ask,"Why don't you just replace your boat with a new one? Instead of keep patching the holes, isn't it easier to just let go of your old boat and get a replacement with no holes?"

Sometimes we are like that fisherman.

We kept patching crises after crises that keep popping in our lives. Sometimes what we need is a brand new plan that is totally different that our current life right now. Perhaps we need to examine our life in a fresher perspective.

Instead of kept forgetting where we put our phones, maybe we should designate a regular place for it. Same place, every time. So this way we can find our phones faster. No more wasting time. It's just silly to waste 20 minutes trying to find your phone because it's not in it's regular place.

Routines and habits are good. The good ones though. The bad ones, we need to toss them away. There's no place for "junk foods" for our minds : like meaningless TV show and trashy gossip articles. Instead, let's replace those with educational documentaries about new learning, skills, arts, and cultures. And comedies! Now that is ok! And let's read more inspirational stories from real people, how they overcome their struggles, how they rise to the occasion.

Sometimes we're too consumed with today. And forgot to plan for tomorrow. And we kept repeating the whole cycle all over again. Today become yesterday. Tomorrow become today. And we continue dealing with today, that we have no time whatsoever to plan ahead for tomorrow. We letting today dictate our actions, instead of directing our energies to create our tomorrow. By the way, tomorrow always come, so might as well plan ahead because it's coming no matter what.

Ok, so sometimes the future is different that what we had planned. It's ok. But most of the time, we can still control the outcome. Have a goal, discipline, and repeat small repetitive habits that building our lives to be better. We eventually shaping our tomorrow to what we desired. Closer to our ideals.

My point is, don't keep dealing with today's crises. Yes, it's urgent. But invest some of your time to plan for tomorrow, the next day, and beyond. Have a long term goal (10 years+), medium term (5 - 10 years), and short term goal (less than 5 years). Don't let fate or destiny or "going with the flow" drift your days.

Your life is like a boat in the sea. You need to be able to grab the steering wheel and start directing to the destination you'd like to end up. Don't just drift. Don't just patching the holes. Sometimes it's okay to let go the old boat and get a new boat with no holes. Easier that way.