Character
The new year - going fast already
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Character The new year - going fast already |
Character - The new year - going fast already
Time flies
Above is probably one of the more commonly used phrases of life.
When we are children, we feel like we are going to stay that way forever - the summer can't come soon enough, the days seem so long in elementary school, and trips to the doctor and the dentist seem painfully boring. Birthdays are few and far between.
When junior high school comes, we hang out with our friends between classes and talk about the teachers giving us a hard time, that impossible chemistry test, and when the latest toys are coming out. We suddenly realize the lunch period is almost over, and we grab our books to run back to our lockers to get ready for our next class.
High school winds up being a blur... classes, practice, after school events, pep rallies, pop quizzes, tests. Before you know it, you've hit your next school break. Next thing you know, term papers are due, and the summer flies in after you hand in your last final.
You don your cap and gown barely months later. Where did the time go?
College is one steady stream of information, finals, parties, hangouts, career talk, and advice from professors. You've barely finished making your resume when you graduate from there, and move out into the real world.
Where did your friends go? Why did life have to speed up when you really started to have fun?
The questions of time management
I don't know if this is some kind of universal law or not, but time passes by quicker the older we get. I don't know why, it just does. Today, my days are so packed, I feel like I land a jumbo jet coming home from work. There are so many things to be done, friends to call, appointments to make, time to spend with loved ones, that life barely slows down for us adults.
Take me for example - I'm a 26-year-old nowadays who used to be a daydreaming kid, wondering what he'd be when he grew up, drawing cars and playing computer games on a Tandy 1000HX computer that used to have 384 kilobytes of RAM (computer-savvy users, please note: I did say kilobytes, not megabytes. :).
The unavoidable aspect of life is the reality - time will never slow down again (it pauses briefly now and then so we can catch our breath). The methods we use to deal with our time will really help us make the best of our lives.
Do it! - Advice on life from a procrastinator
Take it from a perfectionistic, people-pleasing procrastinator: being lazy hurts your self-esteem.
Don't get me wrong - relaxation is both a Biblically sound principle and a requirement by anyone's life standards. If you don't relax, you will eventually break down. However, laziness destroys progress. It is a cancer that feeds off of the resources you have, until you have very little. This starts a cycle in which you feel guilty about not having done anything, which makes you feel less capable of doing something, which gives you a faulty viewpoint of effort (e.g. why bother trying?). This further short-circuits your desire to work because you don't feel anything will come of it, you do nothing, you waste even more time, and the cycle repeats itself.
Here's some common sense advice from an individual lacking tact as well as common sense:
1. Take stock of where you are
The beginning of this year was marked with a solemn family experience that reminded me of the brevity of life and the importance of having your life together. I began to think about things I wanted to do, things I needed to do, things I had to accomplish. No matter where you are in your sloth or laziness, taking inventory is at least a temporary reprieve from the difficulty of your circumstances because it forces you to face factsL what's going on, and what options do I have to improve my life?
2. Regroup
Even when we mess our lives up significantly, there is still Someone who values us infinitely. (Check out my faith section for more information.) You are valuable to God, and your failures can ultimately turn around into triumphs as you hand over the keys to your life to Him. Remembering that He can help you get back on your feet will at least take the pressure off of figuring out how to get a hold of yourself when things are dangerously depressing.
You may discover there are dreams you may never be able to fulfill, or tasks too difficult for you to handle. Take some time to recuperate from the stress of your circumstances (speak with a professional Christian councelor, a pastor, or at least a good friend).
3. Restart
The difficult part about getting back up on your feet is that you have to start walking again. Otherwise, why bother getting back up?
Going forward sometimes requires a plan, and the strength to put one foot in front of the other. Sometimes it simply requires guts. Tuck in your belt, grease up your elbows, and turn the juice back on in your life! Don't give up. Living life is worth all the failures you experience. If nothing else, perseverance makes for great stories.
Hang in there. Give life all you've got.