Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On

I spent thirty hours in a rental car with a Sirius Satellite radio this week. Our predominant choice was Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville radio, and I heard lots of songs I knew and lots I didn't. I got stuck on a few, including this one. The title above is the warranty on a watch that doesn't use numbers or moving hands—it always just says "now." It's never wrong, but the warranty just says Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.

Hard to argue with that watch, the past is dead and gone, and the future hasn't taken place, so why keep pre-living it? I had a nice conversation with an old friend (he's five days older than I am) this week. We were talking about difficulty sleeping, speculating on its causes. We concluded the most common root cause was the habit of worrying. Whenever you become conscious enough to start worrying, sleep hasn't got a chance. It starts with remembering something that's awry, then moves on to what you should do about it, and follows up with what ifs about outcomes that might never happen. Sleep just hasn't a prayer.

Now, everyone agrees with the advice that we shouldn't worry. But who explains how to go about it? Our conversation moved on, and we never resolved that piece. I'm ready to nominate wearing Jimmy's watch that's never wrong. It just says "now." If you doubt that or get confused, consult the warranty and "breathe in, breathe out, move on."

I'm in.