My grandmother lived to the ripe old age of 84. Her memorable life advice was: “Always have something to look forward to.” She was a great believer in not getting what you want: “As long as you want something, you have something to live for.” This is kind of depressing and counterintuitive “wisdom”, as it suggests that you will be best served by living in abject misery and in a state of constant yearning. And yet, she was right.
In my view, when we can have everything we want exactly when we want it, it doesn’t bring us joy. Human beings are best served by hope, anticipation and a bit of healthy waiting around. This relates to the vastly underrated ability to “save up”. It’s hard to save up money. It is maybe even harder to save up your attention or your excitement. Everything from Just Eat (literally impatience in brand nominative shape) to Klarna (the “payment plan” that promises the ability to “shop now, pay later”) suggests that the cult of “gimme now” has taken over. But I sense a disturbance in the force.
