It’s Sunday night. 10.15pm EST. 7.15pm PST which is where I’m going. As usual I’m on an aeroplane – this time to San Francisco, then to LA, then back on the red eye on Tuesday evening. My session last Friday in Berlin, Germany, is a distant memory. Two days can be a multiple lifetime if every day is your life in miniature. 28 hours with my family was the ultimate gift before the limo came to take me away again. Yes, I think in hours. That’s why I relish the good times and that’s how I get through the bad. Everything passes. Even this flight which still has two hours to go.
How do you handle the travel? How do you handle the pressure? How do you handle being away from home so much? How does your wife cope? What about your children? What about your health? These are the questions I’m continually asked. And the answer is always one hour at a time. That’s what immunizes me against overwhelm. That’s what pre-empts burnout. That’s what intensifies the experience. That’s what sweetens the moment. That’s what makes me value others so much. That’s what makes me Mike Lipkin.
Oh, don’t get me wrong. I plan my days and months like everyone else who navigates life’s matrix. But even when I plan, I plan by the hour. That’s the time I allocate to creating tomorrow’s me. Now’s the time I allocate to sharing today’s me with you. One hour on this blog, then who knows…
Try it. The next time you’re in a tough place, just get through the next hour, and then the next, and then the next.
The next time you’re in Nirvana, savour every second so the hour lasts forever. The truth is that you make every hour whatever it is for you. There is no such thing as ordinary. Seriously. Whatever you take for granted is a gift that could be taken away. In the last 32 hours, here are my gifts by the hour: a lunch of cedarwood smoked barbecued salmon, watching three episodes of Lost, a workout, finishing a Novel – The Garden of Last Days by Andre Dubus III, going for a walk in the summer rain, playing with my terrier-poodles, sipping a South African Red, nocturnal games with my partner followed by eight hours of glorious sleep, reading the New York Times, planning the week ahead and writing this blog. How exquisite is that?! And how exquisite are your hours?
Remember, if you want an exquisite life, live it one hour at a time…
Mike,
This is a great entry! I couldn’t agree more with your prospective on how to plan yet live life as it comes at you. Awesome.
Hi Mike, I hope this finds you well, safe & sound at home.
Overwhelmed? Never so much before as I have been lately. And it seems I do not have the experience to draw from in order to cope.
Your suggestion ‘next time you are in a tough place, just get through the next hour, and the next..’ really worked for me.
And even better, your suggestion helped me to appreciate my down time once I got through those challenging hours. I do want an exquisite life, and will continue to live it one hour at a time!
Keep doing what you are doing, there is always someone like me who needs someone like you to help them see things clearer, from a different perspective.
It’s all about sharing and paying it forward. Thanks!
Your article pefelctry shows what I needed to know, thanks!