I Don’t Mind What Happens
This week I picked up Four Thousand Weeks again, right after finishing up Wild.
The book is about the limits of our time. You roughly have four thousand weeks if you live to eighty. He talks about the limits of trying to control it. He reminds us that you’ll never get to everything, and that the quality of your life is determined by what you choose to neglect.
The idea that stayed with me is when Krishnamurti says, “I don’t mind what happens.”
Guard the hours that matter.
Don’t wait for space to appear in your life; it won’t. Protect the time you want for the work, people, and experiences that matter most - before the world fills it for you.
Travel lighter.
Resist the urge to carry too many commitments at once. The appearance of being in control is just that; an appearance. Doing fewer things with real focus is harder, and more honest. As a hiker, I’ve learnt this over the years: the lighter the pack, the further you can go.
Beware the almost-important.
The things most likely to steal your years aren’t the obvious distractions. They’re the interesting-but-not-essential projects, the pleasant-but-not-deep relationships, the work that looks good on paper but doesn’t change your life.
Krishnamurti’s teaching is not about indifference. He's talking about the kind of freedom that comes from living without the itch to prove yourself, from moving through the world light in your step and clear in your choices.
Some people spend a lifetime chasing that. Others simply embody it.
RIP Reeza.
Book References: Four Thousand Weeks, Oliver Burkeman; Wild, Cheryl Strayed.