[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by jammies

Depends what you are procrastinating on. I was going to clean the apartment today but decided my time was better spent on the balcony reading a book in the sunshine.

I don't spend my life worrying about what I should have done, as long as what I have done has some meaning to it; too often we try to impose order on what should be spontaneous. Structure is necessary, yes, but it must be bounded and subject to revision when necessary; if you cannot hold to the structure of your future, perhaps it is because unconsciously you realize it does not lead you anywhere you truly want to go?

What is really important to you sometimes can only be found by not doing what you think you should, but rather what reveals itself when you live from moment to moment, like a child. Too often, as we grow older, we become masters of tedious detail, thinking that this is how we build up meaning for ourselves - bit by bit - or worse, we think that there *is* no meaning and that immersing ourselves in the trivial will keep this truth hidden behind the ritual and habitual.

Yet the only way to change yourself, and find meaning, passion, and drive, is to rather tear down the plans, the structure, and the detail and devote yourself rather to learning what it is that makes you happy. Then, and only then, can you start thinking about how to order your life to achieve it, and have a better than accidental chance of success.

I don't have much to add except that I kind of love this post. One of the things I've learned from grad school is that ultimately structured education is a way of taking the things you love and infusing them with tedium. I think we have to approach life the other way around, and try to prioritize things that help us to achieve happiness beyond the material.