Day 136 – Everyday, Everything is False Again

About 25 years ago a retired physician gave me some advice which I completely rejected as lunacy. The concept was – when you woke up this morning everything you believed was false again. I recoiled from this advice, I tried to make sense out of it, and I could not. This flew in the face of all that I had been taught. I firmly believe that truth is independent of my perception and that each small discovery I make everyday is just a little bit more progress toward discovering the truth of all things.

This concept that everyday when I wake up, it all reverts back to zero and becomes false again was just not something I could accept, or even tolerate. Until this morning. This wise man taught me a lesson that I think he knew was a time bomb. He knew that on some distant day in the future I would wake up and finally understand what the concept was that he was trying to teach. Well, the delay on the fuse expired this morning and I finally got the lesson.

Yes, every morning, every day, what I thought was true yesterday becomes false and today is a new day. Everyday I need to prove to myself that those truths are still existent, that they still apply. I cannot take any truth for granted, everyday I must survive once again on the raw merits of my individual performance, my individual accumulation of worth, of capacity, of abilities.

I am not allowed, this morning, to rely on anything from the past to lean on. I must pray as if I was praying for the first time. I must exercise faith everyday as if it was the first. Also, and this is the hardest part, I cannot allow the presupposed conclusions that I have reached to come with me either. If yesterday I thought I was too old, too dumb, to fat, to stupid, to stubborn, to this, or to that – I am not allowed to bring that with me today either. Today is a new day and all that is false again.

So the beliefs you had yesterday are gone. Just accept it. You cannot repeat yesterday. You cannot relearn the lessons of your past. Your past is your past. All you have today are the resources of today. If you happen to have a bit of money left over from yesterday – great – use it to your advantage today. If you happen to have gained a little knowledge, or learned some life lessons from yesterday – great use it to your advantage today. One thing is absolutely for certain. You cannot change one wit what occurred in the past. You can have no impact on it whatsoever. The only thing you have today is today, so discard all of your for gone conclusions for yesterday and treat today as it was new – because it is.

So now that you know that everything that you believed in yesterday is false again, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to reestablish that the good stuff is still true? How are you going to do that? Are you going to make sure that the bad stuff stays false? Then how are you going to do that?

I am recording some of these ideas on my 365 list and am setting out today to find the truth once again.

Guy Reams (136)
365 Member

0 Comments

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

Share the Post:

Recent Blogs

Day 310 – I Actually Love Opera

The author explores the reasons why people might hesitate to reveal certain aspects of themselves, using their love for opera as an example. They differentiate between privacy and concealment, arguing that while privacy is a healthy boundary, concealment stems from a fear of judgment and can be a burden. The piece concludes by advocating for the freedom found in being less concerned with labels and more comfortable with revealing one’s true complexity.

Day 309 – The Price Tag of Automation

The author recounts his frustrating experience with home automation after Google abandoned its Nest architecture, leading him to build his own system. He highlights the significant time and effort required for maintenance and the eventual abandonment of his automation efforts due to the high ‘economic life’ cost. However, with the advent of AI, the cost and effort of automation have decreased, making it more feasible and renewing his interest in deploying future automations.

Day 308 – Speed is The Champion

This article explores the concept that speed often leads to success in various fields, from business to technology and sports. It argues that systems capable of rapid action, feedback, and adjustment tend to outperform those focused on avoiding errors. The author highlights the importance of fast feedback loops, citing John Boyd’s OODA loop and its application in AI systems. The piece also discusses the speed-accuracy tradeoff, noting that while speed can lead to more mistakes, these are often recoverable, and the compounding effect of rapid learning ultimately drives better results.

Day 307 – Iterative Could be Insufficient

This article explores the contrast between iterative and linear thinking, highlighting their respective strengths and weaknesses. It argues that while iterative thinking is beneficial in many fields, it can sometimes be an excuse for insufficient upfront planning, and proposes a hybrid approach for more robust decision-making.