The ratchet

A thought-provoking display in front of a NYC restaurant.

The end of the world didn't happen. Which means I'll have to find a new job now. A real disappointment if I ever had any.

After joking about it for so long, it's time I had a discussion about what to do if the world was going to end. I have also received the bad news that someone I really admire might see his own life drastically shortened. These are no pleasant situation to be faced with; yet eschatology (not what you think it is, look it up) is the most relevant field of cognition for the mortal creatures we are.

The more I think about it, the more I realize I would keep working on everything that matters to me. This is something that has been said since at least Seneca: as you have no control over circumstances, the only option for you is to choose how to handle it. So a new world rises from the ashes of its predecessor. So a man's values outlive the scars that fade as his body decays.

From there, deadlines turn out to be a gift: that of the instant. I wish you all a year 2013 to be lived in the moment. Achievement, is a ratchet.