I hope you saw the photo above and thought, "Yes, that's exactly what Carita will look like when she's really old." You're wrong, but not far off. Except for the pipe, it's probably about right. This is actually a photo of my younger daughter's Albert Einstein costume. When she was little, she loved dressing up as old--sometimes old ladies, sometimes old men. I still think she wouldn't mind skipping ahead to her retirement years. If you see her two days after this post goes live, please wish her a happy birthday. She's not old yet, but she's working on it, one day at a time.
I have been thinking about how to age the way I want. I was contemplating how to convince myself to do the things I know I should but really don't want to. Sometimes I'll ask myself not, "Do I want to do x?", but "Do I want to have done x?" This simple tense shift allows me to think about my future self and avoid getting stuck in my bias toward the moment I'm in.
Present tense Carita would almost always rather read a book than whatever the other options are, but will Future Carita want to have done the other tasks? Usually, yes, so I force Present Carita to get out there and do the thing.
Do you ever ask yourself what you want to have done? And does that question help you get off your couch and do it? Please share examples in the comments.
