All my life, I have borrowed from due diligence in order to invest in things I have considered to be more important. As it has turned out so far, those investments have not generally been frivolous, but have been sunk into due diligence in other matters—things not popularly considered to be important. The result is that I am increasingly keen in areas that do not interest many others, and just getting by in many of the more mundane matters of life maintenance.
It all raises the question of just how much due diligence one can truly get done in one lifetime. Does the reality of our existence simply throw at us more need for due diligence than can actually be managed well? Are we all just “borrowing from Peter to pay Paul”, as the old saying goes? Indeed, who of us has zero concerns about getting all the needful stuff done?
Even so, I have hardly a regret for my backlogs, except in the most painful of the moments they cause. Meanwhile, I rejoice in the fruits of my other labors, which are appreciated by so very few. Otherwise, I have learned to tolerate it fairly well.
As for my present course–knowing myself as I do–I am more likely to stay as I am, and will invest more hope in finding the funds to pay others to help me with those neglected areas, rather than to neglect instead this special work in deference to the mundane matters of life. I love my various avocations–the learning and promotion of Reality-Based Thinking, the working of the puzzles of ancient history, and the educating of my own son. I only have one other avocation on the waiting list: I would love to be to be the conductor for an excellent vocal ensemble, should an excellent opportunity for that ever arise. The moments I have spent doing that in the past are some of the finest interpersonal moments I’ve had in my life, and would be well worth the further investment of time and energy.
So here I sit with a messy desk, and all manner of other needful chores untended. Yet here I sit in the glow of several recent discoveries, and under the promise of others yet to come. When I put it that way, maybe the piles of papers can wait after all.
