August 7
We go through this world only once. Whatever good we can do, let us do it now — we will not pass this way again.
Fruits of Solitude (freely rendered)
Listening mode
We go through this world only once. Whatever good we can do, let us do it now — we will not pass this way again.
A good intention can feel good for a surprisingly long time. You know that you want to write to someone, pass on a word of praise or offer your help. Just knowing this gives you a little of the feeling of being an attentive person. As long as the intention waits, it costs nothing.
Over time, though, it changes without your noticing. Thanks that come weeks later are still thanks, but now they also have to explain their lateness. Encouragement that only arrives once the exam is over becomes sympathy. That is worth no less. It is just something other than what you meant to do.
This doesn't mean you have to act on every idea at once. Some things gain from being thought through, and some good needs a moment that hasn't come yet. The hard part is simply telling the two apart. Wise postponement and comfortable postponement look very alike, even from the inside.
At some point the intention is still there, perfectly intact. Only the person it was meant for no longer needs it in this form.
