The Things I'll Never Get To

I'm staring down my last week here in Medellín, Colombia, and if I'm honest, it feels the way I feel about life.

There are so many things I want to do. So few days. And no way to go back.

I'm canvassing the city, trying to mix old favorites with new places I always meant to go to (the botanical garden and paragliding and more art museums and a half dozen restaurants and...) and I know that next Thursday, when I get on the plane, there will be a pile of things still left on the list that I never got to.

But to my surprise, it doesn't feel sad, heartbroken, or panicked.

It feels awesome.

See, there's this story we're told, about finishing things up, getting to the end, eating all of the veggies on our plates.

But it's not always true, and it's not the whole story.

This week, I invite you to join me in celebrating the things we're not getting done.

To raise a glass to the to-dos that never get checked off the list. To the parties we skip, the errands never run, and the emails that never get sent.​

To cheer for the relentless machine of time and the way it pulverizes possibilities until eventually, they're just gone.

To say thank you to the laws of entropy and conservation, and the fact that there is never quite enough.

We will not get to everything.

And that is wonderful.

There is a beauty to forgetting. A kindness to never-got-a-chance. A wonder to what-if.

The things unfinished are unique, personal, and deeply ours. They're the secret shadow story of our lives, coloring just outside the pages.

To all the roads we'll never travel.

To the one, out of all the thousands, we pick to go on.

Have a wonderful week. :)

-Steven

p.s. The best thing I saw all week is this marvelous piece in the New Yorker about the nature of time, our brains, and people falling backwards into a net in North Texas. It's fascinating.