Aspiring Buddhist - Dry Ice?

Though I'm aware of the wisdom of living in the moment, that ideal state often eludes me. And a fantasy about additional lifetimes shows my enlightened path in need of repair. Humor me anyway. What would you do with another 150 years?

In his brilliant essay about "Lolita" in "The War Against Cliche" (2001), author Martin Amis says he's read Nabokov's masterpiece "...eight or nine times". OK, there's one activity for my additional lifetimes - reading and re-reading. Listening to Horace Silver's Jazz Messengers playing "The Kicker" yesterday reminded me of several Silver compositions I haven't gotten around to learning yet. Want to guess where that line of thought took me? Hint: My Buddhist friends would not be proud. Preparing for an upcoming trip to Congaree National Park got me reflecting on the next National Park, the next city, other countries.

Back in the moment. No, wait; not yet. I read all that stuff, I listen to and learn all that music, I visit all those places. Now I need more time to meet intelligent people who are good conversationalists; what use are those rich experiences without processing them with others? Would be nice if those same people had excellent vocabularies so I could learn some new words at the same time but now I'm being greedy and not living in the moment. Guess the Dalai Lama's job is safe.