Leaders: Plan, prepare but stay in the present

Phrases such as “when we get there,” or “save enough” or “complete this next thing” pass through our minds nearly every day.

It starts when we are really small. Think about the education system. Nursery school gets you ready for kindergarten. Then grade school prepares you for high school. The high school years for college or the working world.

Then we start working and change jobs and learn and grow for the next step, but where does it end? Or does it ever end?

“When this is done, then I am going to do blank.” A statement most every individual has said at one point or another. This kind of next step mentality then begs the question: What do we miss in the meantime? The times when we are not paying attention because we were so focused on what is next.

Life is a long timeline of transient activities that we roll through, and do we ever get to the end? Are we ever satisfied?

As we roll through this timeline, there are first and last experiences occurring all of the time. Births and deaths, introductions and goodbyes. When they happen, we rarely identify them in the moment but see them when we look back across that timeline of life.

We constantly prepare for the next thing, but the truth is: The future will never arrive.

No matter how hard we try, it will always be just out of our grasp.

Not saying don’t plan and prepare and save, but to what detriment?

Don’t let the little moments in life slip away.

They are what makes life … life.

These moments are the pixels that make up the dash between your birth and your death. Zoom in on the photo roll on your phone. That is where you will see your life, your memories, your experiences.

I received feedback recently about the loss of a friend’s friend: “They lived their dash.”

My eyes well up every time I think about that.

Personally, I struggle with being in the moment, but I make a conscious effort to strip away the planning and the future and the stress and the … and the … to simply drink it in. To live that moment with all of the senses and create a memory that no one can take away.

Here is my challenge to all of you leaders out there: Plan and prepare so you remain on your course, but take a moment, as often as necessary, to pause. Look around, behind and in front of you to let that moment sink into a memory.

Life moves pretty fast and appears to speed up exponentially as we age.

Don’t let it pass you by.

Aaron Huizenga is East Division manager for Lakes Gas in Wisconsin. Reach him at ahuizenga@lakesgas.com.