You are someone’s ancestor.

Most immediately, you are the ancestor of the you of tomorrow.

That’s why we don’t spend every penny in our bank account, why we put leftovers in the fridge, why we earn a degree–it’s a gift to the you of tomorrow.

Each of us have a way of thinking about our ancestorhood.

The circle of now is how far into the future you’re hoping to make an impact. Do you care enough to invest in a thousand tomorrows? What will you invest in (or sacrifice, depending on your point of view) to receive in the future?

And the circle of us is how many people you’re considering in the actions you take today.

The most convenient, easiest and visceral choice is to make no choice at all. Keep your circles small, focused on pleasure and the short-term win. If we don’t think about it, this is what we might collide with. No friend at all to our descendants, including our future self.

When we’re at our best, though, we expand those circles, creating generative possibility for ourselves and those around us. Everyone feeds their circles, the opportunity is to make them bigger.

Bina Venkataraman has written about this better than I ever could.

Choose to choose the circle you want to be part of. Become the ancestor you’d like to thank.