Occasionally you do something in life that you realise you should have done years ago. Usually, this will be learning a skill—something that required an investment of time and effort in order to achieve a greater goal. As humans we are highly skilled in avoiding bettering ourselves, even though we have a (probably) unique ability that separates us from "the animals"... the ability to envisage the future.
This phenomenon pretty much occurs to me daily. Every work day, I go to the gym after work. It's something of a chore, but has become a way of life for me. Yet every day I run through numerous excuses in my head.
One skipped day won't make a difference...
Today's a little hot...
I could do something else with the hour...
And even though I am aware of the positivity of the result, which has almost zero negative aspects, my mind is still trying to convince me to not do the very thing that will improve my life. Same goes for studying. Want to better yourself by reading a study book? Your brain will inevitably come up with a million excuses and distractions. Get on YouTube instead. Or Netflix. Or the Playstation. Basically, piss your life away until a few hours later you feel nothing but massive regret. It's the same as eating healthily all day (or all week—well done!) and your brain convincing you that binging on a bag of chips or having a pizza just before midnight is somehow a deserved "treat" to yourself, when all it is is a momentary pleasure will a subsequent wave of regret and remorse.
Our ability to predict the future from our actions separates us from other species (as is commonly thought). But yet, we have this inbuilt drive to not better ourselves. For some reason, there's a huge energy barrier we have to overcome in order to do the very things that we will be pleased we have done in the long term.
The funny thing is, as soon as I start working out, I feel great. Even better when I've finished. I'm pleased that I stuck with it and didn't skip a day. The cycle repeats itself. It is my loop.
I have no real answer on how to overcome this hesitance, other than "will power", really. I have a long term goal to be healthy and in-shape, so this is what I do. No, it isn't easy, but some benefits are that I feel physically better, have better mental health as well as physical health, can still fit into my clothes, look younger, am stronger, and it means I can eat "whatever I want" whenever I want, though I am pretty strict with my diet too for the same reasons.
I have similar long-term goals with language, so I am studying. Photography too, but that's really a complete creative outlet that I dip in and out of and don't really have a long term goal as such, other than to "be better".
Why did I write this post? Well, I just started learning to ride a motorbike, and realised it's something I should have done about 15 years ago, but was too intimidated at the prospect. My brother has ridden for a number of years, and now I have the bug. It's amazing.
But you're here for the photos, right? Not self-help crap. Not that there is anything such as self-help. If it's not coming from you, then It's just help.
Anyway, so I was taking a trip on the 'trip (the bike is a Triumph Speed Triple—Go big or go home, and I am not going home), and came across these lovely Scottish Highland Cattle. I had the 28mm Distagon mounted to my camera, which is one of my favourite lenses for focal length, sharpness and serious colours (especially blues). I also had my 55/1.8 with me, which is a fantastic lens, too.
For a change, I am also thinking about new cameras. Leica finally? Newer Sony? A pocket camera that it easier to take on bike rides? Sell everything and just use the RX1? I do enjoy using the different lenses for different photos, but ultimately the best photos are just well composed using whatever you have. Mobile phone photography has taught us that.
So, do cows plan for the future?