1. Do I live today as if I have no tomorrow?
2. Or do I live today as if I have 50,000 tomorrows?
3. Or do I continue to live today as if tomorrow will come around?

The question above, while an interesting conversation starter, feels rhetorical because as a whole, (socially, culturally, nationally, globally), our contextual progress appears to favor #3; it feels like most of us live today as if tomorrow will come around, both sequentially in succession and as a rejuvenating force offering new energy, strength and hope. And perhaps as an individual I tend to live each day as if tomorrow will come around, at least partially because I cannot live strictly as if I have no tomorrow or strictly as if I have 50,000 tomorrows. Either of these options creates a labyrinth full of choices that contradict and confuse. So what if I were to live emotionally and spiritually as if I have no tomorrow and simultaneously live intellectually and physically as if I have 50,000 tomorrows? Would that division help guide my choices? Or would it just clarify what I am forced to choose between? At first glance, I think the latter. And is it possible that the proffered division might actually add complexity to everyday functionality especially if practiced in the midst of those who continue to live today as if tomorrow will come around? It is difficult enough to interact or connect with a person who is not there without adding emotion or fervor to the equation. And it feels like most individuals I interact with on a daily basis are not there; distracted and pushed and pulled by circumstance and responsibilities and other people and events that are more significant perhaps by virtue of their greater importance but more likely by virtue of their absence. I often feel like a mere box to be checked. And in a flat two-dimensional cog such as myself, there is no room for emotion, or even much individuality. But, for the sake of 50,000 tomorrows, perhaps that is as it should be. Perhaps my individuality is a small sacrifice for the big picture. I feel that a very large majority of those individuals within my circles of daily interactions would agree that my individuality is a small sacrifice for the big picture, but are they also willing to sacrifice their individuality? From where I sit, the answer in most cases is No. Perhaps I am being petty. But if the possibility of no tomorrow is as important as the possibility of 50,000 tomorrows, perhaps I am not being petty. For one individual to believe their “no tomorrow” is more important than mine creates inequity and is frequently unjust, but it is also human. Regardless, to ask another to sacrifice, yet not be willing to make the same sacrifice is still a double standard. I am confident that we all sacrifice to some extent, and I am confident that we all include a measure of hypocrisy in our daily practice and interpretation. I also see that the wider the relative power gap the greater the potential for mutual ignorance and power-driven hypocrisy.

So how do we narrow these gaps? This question deserves an extent of consideration that I will not do justice, but I believe answers will come by addressing the following infringements:

1. Wealth gaps.
2. Explicit bias.
3. Implicit bias.
4. Ignorance.
5. Entrenched bureaucracy.
6. Two-party politics.
7. Capitalism.

Easy peasy… Just like narrowing my arteries. Right?

No. This is a daunting task that encourages most of us to continue to live today as if tomorrow will come around. But to do this perpetuates the ignorance. And I see #4 above as the umbrella or linchpin transgression, covering and connecting with all others including any I may have (in ignorance) missed and all the large, small and minuscule details within the cracks and crevices of the inequities listed. Ignorance is a lack of knowledge. To ignore ignorance is stupidity, most often (I believe) motivated by fear. The misdeeds cared for by ignorance can only be addressed by first addressing ignorance. I must first be willing (and eager?) to learn, then I must educate my self on the wrongs that flow from these faulty constructs, and only then can I plan and act.

I would love to dig deeper into these thoughts including going back over nearly ten years of weekly written thought to find previous perspectives on the seven sins of ignorance listed above, but because I am up against a deadline I must reconsider this possible further analysis next week. So, through this week's written thought, regarding personal daily practice and interpretation, I believe I have determined that interacting with another or others requires me to live as if I have 50,000 tomorrows and I should act as if they have chosen to live as if they have 50,000 tomorrows (though I believe most of them are living as if tomorrow will come around). Furthermore, to be authentic, interacting with my self requires that I live emotionally and spiritually as if I have no tomorrow thus creating an inner labyrinth of contradiction and confusion that I must work my way through with the occasional help of a thoughtfully-chosen other.

Yet it is so much easier to simply live as if tomorrow will come around.