It seems there are two prevalent messages out there these days. And while individually they make sense, when we look at both together, they seem to contradict each other. But do they really?
Let’s start with the one that’s received more attention in the long term: Plan for tomorrow. As a species, we tend to be forward thinking. When we find ourselves in a new or different situation, our brains begin evaluating the options and playing out different scenarios. We do this automatically without conscious thought much of the time.
When we consciously plan, we review options and set course down the path that makes the most sense to us at that time. It’s planning ahead that has resulted in the long-term survival and prosperity of our species. Planning is was brought about agriculture. Farmers plant seeds in the spring and plan to harvest the resulting crops in the fall.
In the U.S., discussing politics is a national past time. Unfortunately, it’s getting more difficult to have any sort of discussion with someone who disagrees with you without the whole thing blowing up. This is especially true of debates over Facebook, Twitter, blog comments, etc.