Yesterday morning I listened to this amazing podcast episode where Robin shares w us the story of how his father translated this Sanskrit poem to English and stuck it to their refrigerator door:
“Spring has passed, summer has gone, and winter is here, and the song I’m meant to sing remains unsung, for I have spent my days stringing and unstringing my instrument.”
Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore
When he asked his dad what that poem meant, his dad replied, “Robin, that was a poem written by a man who postponed his life. He always wanted to do something special, he always wanted to do important work, he always wanted to be loving in the world. He always wanted to be creative. He always wanted to see the world, but he got busy being busy.”
His dad’s reply resounded within me. How many of us today make the “I’m to busy” excuse whenever we get the opportunity to do something that really makes us feel alive?
Also, how often do we find ourselves wishing we had more time to pursue our personal goals, hopes and dreams?
Robin gives the great analogy of how most of us are walking around in a sort of “waking sleep” state. We’re so busy being busy stringing and unstringing our instruments that we never get to the most important part of life – playing that instrument and singing that beautiful song of our lives.
In our childhoods (spring), we dream and fantasize about living a wonderful life filled with purpose and fulfillment. Then comes adulthood (summer), filled with the heat, sweat and stress of making money, living up to expectations, starting a family and putting our hopes and goals on hold. Before we know it, decades past and winter (old age) is here and we wonder, “How did time fly by so fast? I wish I had more time to … (insert goals here)”
I hope this post can persuade you to take some time off of your busy life. Sit down and journal about the kind of life you would like to lead. Don’t stop there. For each goal, set a dateline or target of when you think you can achieve that goal. Thereafter, make a rough step-by-step plan of how you want to go about achieving this. Lastly, heed Nike’s advice starting with step 1.
Just. Do. It.
Yours Sincerely,
Jahn
JT 