What are the things in life that you absolutely could not do without? Has the list always been the same, or does it change with the passage of time? Speaking for myself, the list has changed through every phase of my life. For instance, ever since I began earning my keep, I would get my hair washed and styled professionally at least twice a week. It didn’t matter where in the world I was, what the pressures on my time were, and how much it cost. I simply had to get my hair done professionally. It was the one non-negotiable that was just not up for discussion.
For instance, there was a time in my life when going to the gym was non-negotiable. No matter how late I finished work, I would stop by the gym to run on the treadmill and do weights for an hour or so. As I grew older and my OCD became worse, I found it hard to share a space with people who liberally left sweat stains on every machine. Sleep was the other non-negotiable I simply couldn’t do without in my younger days. If I didn’t get my eight hours, the rest of my day would be wrecked. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t read. And I certainly couldn’t write. I simply had to write that day off and hope a good night’s sleep would remedy the situation on the morrow. As I grow older, I find that my sleep requirements have changed considerably. Even five hours are enough to get by on, and I am not destroyed by having to wake up early to take a morning flight, for instance.
So, my new non-negotiable is 20 minutes on the cross trainer I have installed at home, and a quick turn with free weights every evening as I watch TV.
