Don't Run Down the Clock

The Buddha said that every evening, when you see the sun set, you should remind yourself that this might be the last sunset you ever see. Mindfulness of death, he said, will motivate you to do what needs to be done in order to make the most of your short life.

Mindfulness of death also helps alleviate self-doubt. We don’t doubt ourselves simply because we think, “I can’t do it.” That voice is there too. But self-doubt almost always contains another voice that says, “You might fail, so better to hide and wait for time to pass.” It’s only when you realize what waiting for time to pass actually means that you wake up in a cold sweat, determined, at last, to trust the only person who knows your path: you.

A few weeks ago, I had a dream that I was invited to play a huge show in a stadium. When I got there, however, the venue was just an empty dive bar. I wanted to back out of the gig, but the owner said to me, “This will be the last show of your life, Paul. What will you do?” And when I woke, I realized that even if playing to an empty room is hard, it’s a thousand times sadder to hide from music, let time pass, and never play at all.

Clients often come to me wanting to make career changes. Sometimes they’ve been coached by New Agey coaches who say things like, “If it’s not a full body ‘yes’ it’s a ‘no’.” But attraction is not always a good test of wisdom. The real question is whether the work you’re doing serves your greater vision. You can work at a dingy gas station and be in alignment with your vision. You can also take a fancy job offer and be walking into a golden cage.

We confuse intuition with our preferences, but our preferences are mostly based on fear, which will waste your time, every time. It’s not just: no pain, no gain. It’s also: no willingness to step away from the comfort of status, luxury, and approval, no gain. These temptations are just ways of running down the clock. Please don’t. The days and nights are flying past. What do you really want to do with your time?

Seung-Hwan Oh, "Impermanence"