Random Versus Intentional

About a month ago, I met a young lady while outside watching fireworks. It was the end of Sinulog, a festival here in Cebu City, and we got a chance to meet and talk to each other that night. The fireworks were great and so was the conversation. Over the next week or so we’d have these chance encounters and they were always delightful.

Each time, we’d claim we’d only smoke another cigarette then head on our separate way, but some of our conversations would last for an hour ot two, maybe even longer. During one of our talks I posed a question, “How can we do this, but not so random?” He response was we can not. She stated she like the random aspect and as a man, pretty women seem to always get the way as far as I’m concerned. One or two more chance encounters since then and I’ve since moved to another condo.

We haven’t seen each other or spoken in a couple of weeks. I think of her often and what I’ve come to realize is a bit of a life lesson. Random is great. Random can be delightful and enjoyable.. Random means, among other things, unfamiliar or unspecified. It also means done or chosen without method or conscious decision. Our conversations were great, but by definition, they were random. For nearly a decade now, I’ve been living with purpose. I’ve been living with clarity and intent. Another way of saying that is I’ve been very methodical or deliberate. These are the opposite of random.

So although delightful and fun and mostly fulfilling and enjoyable, our conversations were not aligned with my life and my lifestyle. I will miss our conversations. I will miss the dialogue. What I won’t miss is randomness. It’s not aligned with every other aspect of my life. As I move forward I’ve got to be mindful of my reason for being. My purpose. My existence isn’t random and those people, places, and things not aligned to facilitate the achievement of my purpose, those random things, may truly be an enjoyable respite, but they are more of a distraction than anything else.

Remain vigilant in the pursuit of your purpose. Stay alert and guard your time, your heart, and your mind. Distractions come in varying forms, but your purpose comes in one form. Do all you can each day to complete or fulfill the reason for which you exist.

Today, Wednesday, February 19, 2024, I am grateful that:

I am well rested. I’ve fully transferred all my belongings to my newest location. slept during the day and woke up ready to work tonight. It seems as if my adjusting well to my old familiar surroundings

The lesson about random and intention came to mind. I’d been obsessing over if I’d done something wrong or inappropriate. I’d been thinking about how I can do things better, more effectively and the like. The lesson this morning is more about intent, which is my objective. Random and deliberate do not coexist.

I landed another small contract. I’ll work on emulating Mark and his success. His plan is several small contracts at once versus one big contact. He figures that if one cancels it’s less challenging to replace a five hour contract over a twenty hour contract. It’s worked well for him and I may as well take the same approach.

How can you

This is the first part of the entry.