Be kind to your future self

Who knows what comes next

Monday - thanks for reading another story from J ROBERT CLARK - Makes. Not a strictly “maker” essay today, but it is about making time for life. So there. Anyway, without further delay….a story about delays. ~JRC

---

Image by Erik McLean, via Unsplash.

---

There's a saying I like: be kind to your future self.

In a nutshell, this means doing things now that will make your future life that much easier - and better. Good stuff like eating well, getting rest, and reducing stress, do the job. But so do seemingly insignificant things like cleaning up a mess now instead of later. Or sorting out what you'll need for a job before the challenge is before you. These efforts, done ahead of time, help prepare you for whatever comes next.

---

Being kind to your future self, then, is more than being good to yourself. It's about setting the stage for the future - which is uncertain. When you take time to do things now, when you have time, then whatever comes next, at least those other things are behind you.

This is the best part of being kind to your future self - it opens up extra time. If all goes well, then maybe you’ll get a well-deserved break in the future. And if not, then at least you have time in your schedule to address those snafus that come with living.

---

I ran into such a hang-up today. My son and I went for a quick overnight camping trip to our favorite spot, the Mojave Trails National Monument. It's about a three-and-a-half-hour drive from our house, so I like to leave early and return early - to avoid traffic. All went well until we started heading back Sunday morning.