Tomorrow

Tomorrow is a word that holds so much promise. It's hopeful. Our dreams of today are supposed to become tomorrow's reality.

Except that oftentimes tomorrow never really comes.

What I've noticed is that our world is obsessed with the hours that happen between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Life has become nothing more than the daily grind. People are caught up in the today, but just the little trivialities of it. Work is not just a priority; it is what defines many people. Because of this they have lost their tomorrow and the potential of their today.

I'm not okay with that. No matter what I do I'm committed to do it well, but I have never been willing to pass by the roses and not stop to smell them. I find it difficult to think about  being 100% consumed with work for 30 years so that I can then enjoy retirement - when the reality is that none of us are guaranteed that we will ever even see retirement. Some may call my point of view frivolous; I call it a desire to achieve some sort of work-life balance. I guess the bottom line is that just because a certain lifestyle would not work for you, does not make it wrong for somebody else.

I think for me, a dream of tomorrow would be to score a good job in the education system where I am then able to take advantage of the deferred salary deal (maybe 1 in every 3 or 4 years) and go overseas somewhere on the deferral year. Just to keep things interesting.

But that is just one little bullet point on an ever-growing list of things I simply must accomplish. Sometimes I scare myself by wanting to do so much and subsequently realizing that I'm not really making that much headway. I know that if don't accomplish all the things I want to accomplish I will feel as though I have failed myself (keeping in mind that we only get this one shot at life). I am driven, but not driven enough to make things happen today. Tomorrow is an easy excuse for complacency. Tomorrow never comes.

I wonder how much more I would have accomplished in my 25 years thus far had I decided early on to make better use of today and stop dwelling on what can be achieved tomorrow. Sometimes I think maybe I've made my list too long. But is that possible, really?

Has anybody out there found a way to keep tomorrow on the horizon, while really focusing on what can be done today that will help you reach tomorrow? If so, please enlighten me.

To those of you who have found a way to dream about tomorrow while using every today to work toward those dreams diligently - I like you.