Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend,
Before we too into the Dust descend;
Dust into Dust, and under Dust to lie,
Sans Wine, sans Song, sans Singer, and—sans End.
I take to heart the above admonition from Edward Fitzgerald’s collection of quatrains, Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. In addition, I take it not just as a cautionary warning against a future fate of endless death. Life is so much richer and more joyous when we make the most of whatever we have. After all, this day is all the life we ever really have. Here and Now.
The philosopher Neville wrote, “Everything in life must be an investment. To spend is to waste, to squander, to lay out without return. To invest is to lay out for a purpose from which a profit is expected.” I suggest that we are all investing in something with every action we take, every decision we make. Here is an easy way to become more aware of that in which you are investing the precious hours, days and years of your life.
Today, before you put your money or your mind in service to some end, first ask yourself, “What am I investing in with this action or decision?”
Do you want to buy yourself an ice cream cone? Have you, up until now, believed that buying ice cream is a waste of money or that eating ice cream is bad for you? Today you can choose to buy that ice cream as a conscious investment in your own pleasure, here and now, without waiting for anyone else to do it. Before when you ate the ice cream, you were actually investing in the self-concept of a money-waster who does bad things. Now, you can eat the ice cream with the self-concept of a person who celebrates herself.
Do you want to watch television? Up until now, have you, or someone who wants to control you, labeled watching TV a lazy thing to do? If you believed that, then while you watched TV, you were actually investing in the self-concept of a lazy person. If you are going to watch TV, consciously decide to invest the time in something that fuels the self-concept you want to have of yourself. Define valuable qualities in TV watching which you truly feel benefit your life. For example, you can invest in resting your body. Or, you can decide to turn a problem over to your subconscious to resolve while your conscious mind pays attention to the television. Then, as you invest your time watching TV, feel your body resting, feel your mind relaxing, feel yourself moving into that desired self-concept of a rested body and a refreshed mind.
The wondrous thing is that the actual activity or decision is much less important than the judgments we hold about what we are doing. Rather than change your behavior, simply choose to redirect your thinking while doing what you normally do. When you get clear about the self-concept you want to invest in, other choices will come to mind to support it even more powerfully.
When you consciously define your actions and decisions as investments, you awaken the partnership between you and your mind. A loving and supportive partnership with your own mind is the most profoundly important relationship in your life. With it, you are unstoppable. Without it, no achievement is enough and no one else’s love is sufficient.