Alexandersmap

    Tag: Dag Hammarskjold

    • An Expansive Life

      “For all that has been,
      Thank you.

      For all that is to come,
      Yes!”
      — Dag Hammarskjold

      I write this with anticipation for the day. No doubt it may go as it has every year on this day, but then again it may be completely different. We’ll know when we get there. And the feelings that stir within, that combined sense of possibility and unease, are part of the experience.

      We learn to be grateful for the ripe potential the moment offers, as much as we celebrate the successful completion of that moment. Plan a trip, sign up for a race, or schedule any significant event in your life and it triggers an escalating anticipation of what will be. The emotional roller coaster that ensues is as much a part of living an expansive life as checking the box afterwards.

      Tell me, what is life without something to look forward to?

    • The Beautiful Present

      “Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find the right road.” ― Dag Hammarskjold

      Oh Lord, how shining and festive is your gift to us, if we
      only look, and see.
      — Mary Oliver, Look and See

      For all my talk of stopping to smell the roses, I barely noticed a beautiful sugar maple turning towards peak foliage as we drove by it yesterday. Had my bride not commented on it, I’d have missed it entirely. There’s something to be said for being focused when driving a two-ton automobile, but there’s also something to not rushing through life with blinders on. The point is, we may still get from here to there while enjoying the passage of time.

      When I write about the necessity of savoring each moment I do so as a reminder to myself as much as any reader who stumbles upon this blog (Welcome, nonetheless. Or rather, especially). We ought to begin with the end in mind, as Covey once said, while still enjoying the things we chance upon as we march through our small piece of history. Hammarskjold is absolutely correct in pointing out that we ought to be aware of that far horizon, but the poet in me rejects the idea of never looking at your next step. Our next step is all we have. Have a look at all that is beautiful in it, while still glimpsing the future horizon that we may not lose our way. Put another way, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

      I’m aware of the passing of time, and look towards that horizon with keen interest in how far down the path I might go before I tire and settle into an armchair to tell the same familiar stories to anyone who will listen again and again. But those stories are created today, with full awareness of all that happens in the now. We ought to savor the beautiful present flashing before our eyes instead of fixating on the next intersection. The journey will be all the more enjoyable. We’ll get there either way.