Yes, the author's words are probably meant for someone who is living an inward looking life, not thinking for example to tell their aging parent, "I love you". And for all of us, it is a reminder.

I think it's even simpler than that.

A lot of the treadmills that society places upon us are just bullshit. It's packaged as "long term goals" to make it sound more plausible (you'll either forget you were conned or get used to it in some kind of Stockholm syndrome). But in those cases there's actually no trading short for long, it's just purely bullshit. Like, the high school geometry assignment for the author. It is literally wasting her time if she didn't enjoy learning it.

I guess "bullshit" might be objectively too strong a word -- given that "one man's trash is another man's treasure", whether it's trash or treasure depends on who/what person you are. But subjectively, for the wrong person, a lot of stuff is just that.

> It is literally wasting her time if she didn't enjoy learning it.

I didn't enjoy several classes which were prerequisites for my career which I enjoy very much.

The most obvious example is the idea of waiting for retirement to do the things you want to do and, frankly, things you probably should be doing long before you’re in your late 60s.

I am certain it was clear to the author and those with perhaps a more fine tuned ability to control themselves. I have been the person who reads things like this and used it as an excuse to extract cheap joy from bad habits. It's incredible how much wisdom one can extract from a decade of stupidity.