There is so much pain and suffering in this world. A child is in need of love and food. Atmospheric toxins are silently poisoning neighborhoods nearby. Cancer is wiping out a generation. An elderly woman needs a hand.
Will your next action, be it in thought or real-time, add to the suffering, or will it help heal? Will your next action spread love instead of hate? Will it build rather than destroy?
The spectrum of possibility is endlessly diverse – you can do anything, and also nothing. What the future holds depends on your present choice.
Yet, there is room for second chances. You are free to make mistakes.
But for how long? Will you keep living a life of convenience, in order to please your loved ones? Or will you break free of conventional rules, in pursuit of a future you can really believe in? You could give your life for?
What will you do with your time here?
It’s a privilege to have free time, sufficient food, clothing, shelter, and meaningful work. Most people in our world don’t have these things. How can you truly appreciate what you have, to honor the lives of those less fortunate?
With privilege comes responsibility.
It’s all about respect.
If you:
- consume excessively: buy things you don’t need, eat out all the time, throw away disposables when you have perfectly good reusables
- spend your free time on aimless activities: checking e-mail or Twitter for the 10th time today, starting your 6th beer at 1 o’clock
then you have neglected to appreciate the sanctity of your time and attention. These things are finite. Your time is precious and important. Your attention, sacred. Devote your free time to things driven by purpose, that fall in line with your values. That doesn’t have to mean boring or somber.
Do you want to live in a world free of hate and suffering, full of love, awareness, passion, and intellect? I do. I want a world where life itself is cherished, where life-harming toxins are never released, where the people are stewards of their patch of earth, where all beings live harmoniously, as much as they can. Where people work hard to live up to their full potential, and give selflessly in service to humanity.
Will you help me create this world?
I don’t know exactly what the future will look like, but that doesn’t stop me from believing it could be better. It doesn’t stop me from pouring my heart and soul into its creation. In my heart I know, a better future won’t arrive if no one stands up to create it.
Do you feel privileged? How are you making the best use of your free time and privilege?
Photo by Agustin Ruiz
*Title is borrowed from David DeFranza
Thanks for the reminder Lynn. It’s easy to get caught up in ourselves and what we are going through.
It’s always good to take a step back and put things into perspective.
Thanks, Mike! Glad the message resonates.
Man, the checking email/Twitter thing ten times a day is totally me. The internet is one area of my life in which I could use some more consciousness! Thank you for the reminder that all resources are finite and should be used thoughtfully.
Hah, yes me too. I finally decided to install this program called Self Control http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/31289/selfcontrol and block Twitter on it for 5 hours at a time. It works pretty well! Keeps me focused, and really shows me how easily I cave to the Twitterverse.
I have been working on finding a balance -it’s not working. I really want to devote my time 100% to my kids when they are home and save work for the time that they are in school. There just aren’t enough hours in the day. I am amazed that you are using Self Control…I don’t think I could do it!
Time to go hang with my kids…..thanks for the reminder Lynn.
I know, there are totally not enough hours in the day. It was Leo’s latest post http://zenhabits.net/time/ that really helped me see how I should prioritize my time. If I spend all my free moments checking Twitter, then I can’t use them to do other things. And what do I really get from being on Twitter 20x a day? Does that really help my blog, my business goals, my personal growth, or spreading my message?
Since reading his post, I really want to commit to spending my time wisely and productively. On top of my day job, bf, caring for myself and home, there’s really little time left to do what I really want to do. It used to bring me down a lot, but why accept defeat? I could have it way worse – I could be a portfolio analyst on Wall St. working *all* my waking hours away, and then I wouldn’t even have time to feed or care for myself, much less start something new and more meaningful.
I’ve been using Self Control for the past couple of days, and it’s been working out really well. Of course right now I’m dying to check Twitter and blog feeds, but I can’t, and that really shows me how strong this Escapism thing is. Instead I’ve got to get creative with my time. What to do with this minute of free time? Adjust the picture on my new blog post, instead of seeing who’s talking to me. It’s moving forward vs. staying stuck. If I’m at home, it means working on that sewing project instead of vegging out to Twitter.
I don’t have kids, so I can’t even imagine how hard it must be trying to find a balance with kids. I would say, give Self Control a shot [if it's the Twitter and email that are taking you away from your kids]. Hope you find a sweet spot! Good luck.
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