Snippets from a charming-thoughtful-wise essay by Melissa Kirsch, "Future Perfect", in the New York Times morning newsletter of 21 Feb 2026:

... It can feel like a drag to do something uncomfortable now in order to reap the benefits later — see: saving for retirement, going to the gym. In some cases, the future payoff feels worth it; in others, not so much. I watch the way I alternately take care of Future Me and then sabotage her nearly every night. ...

... and ...

... Deciding to back into the [parking] space, taking a few minutes to clean up before bed: These are tiny expressions of care for one’s near-future self. We reap the benefits almost immediately after the sacrifice. It can be harder to envision who we’ll be decades from now, to really imagine our future selves and invest in setting them up for success. We engage in temporal discounting, valuing the rewards of the present over those of the future. We spend the bonus instead of putting it in a high-yield savings account. We know that our future self awaits, but sometimes we decide to satisfy the present self instead. ...

Yes – the challenge is balance ...

_{(cf Zhurnal Themes (2003-04-04), Honor Your Practice (2013-01-04), Future Self (2022-01-22), toki sona - o pana e pona tawa sina pi tenpo kama (2024-08-28), ...) - ^z - 2026-02-22}