Stop Wasting Your Life

photo credit: 2020VG - sxc.hu

Sometimes, just sometimes, I waste time. 

Okay, we all know that's a dirty lie.

But seriously now. Sometimes I spend my time stalking people on Facebook, stalking people on their blogs, and stalking people on MySpace (as a last resort, naturally).

Now before you get your hopes up, I probably haven't stalked you lately. In fact, this year, it's going to be harder than ever to waste my time learning unnecessary details of my friends' lives.

You see, one of my goals for 2012 is to only spend 5 minutes a day on Facebook.

What?! How will I ever survive?

Well, contrary to popular belief, you don't actually have to ever get on Facebook to maintain a social life. Not at all! And I thought about doing this, but I quickly figured out that I wouldn't be able to post updates from Life Before the Bucket if I couldn't get on Facebook, so I nixed that idea.

You know what's crazy, though? Even if I only spend 5 minutes a day on Facebook this year, I'm still spending over 24 hours of my time in 2012 on the good ol' F-B. Can you imagine just sitting on Facebook for 24 straight hours? It's insane, really. And according to this article, if I'm like the average person, I spent over 90 hours of my year on Facebook in 2011.

But the truth is, I want 2012 to be better than 2011 was. I want to live life more fully than I ever have before. And I firmly believe that living life to the fullest does not include overdosing on Facebook.

I want to stop wasting my life. 

So what about you? If I've stalked you as well as I think I have, then I know that you're determined to make the most of your limited time in this life. That most likely means that you, like me, need to stop wasting your life.

For you, it might look different. Maybe you don't care about Facebook, but you can't go a day without playing Call of Duty. Or maybe your time-waster is perusing StumbleUpon.  Regardless of how you're wasting your life, I know that somewhere within you, you want to stop. I know this because you're still reading (and not because I stalk you).  You want to make something more of your life and want 2012 to be better than 2011.

It isn't difficult. Try it out for a week. Decide that you'll only spend 5 minutes, 10, 15, or however much time a day on Facebook or playing your favorite game. Give yourself a goal just for the coming week and see what it's like to have more time in your day.

I've been seeing this on my browser a lot lately
thanks to StayFocusd

And if you're like me and you need some accountability, check out Leech Block (if you're on Firefox) or StayFocusd (for Google Chrome). Each of these extensions limits how much time you can spend on designated websites, like Facebook or StumbleUpon, making your internet time that much more productive. These tools are especially great for me during the school year, as I tend to default to Facebook when I have homework to do (like most other college students).

EDIT: I had originally linked to the Chrome Nanny extension, but StayFocusd is actually what I meant to suggest - it's a LOT simpler. Check it out!

It'll be one less excuse that you have for not accomplishing your goals, so if you're fond of having excuses, maybe this isn't for you. But maybe you're tired of making excuses and you want to have more time to actually live life. If that's the case, try it out, even for just a day. You'll be surprised at how free you feel when you're freed from even one time-wasting obligation.

So you know what to do, and you know how to do it.

Make it happen, and make 2012 the best year you've ever lived!

P.S. If you need something productive to do while you're on the internet or as a break from work, check out Freerice.com!

P.P.S. I finally made an About Me and a Contact page. Check 'em out!

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Questions: What is your favorite time-waster? How are you going to cut time-wasters out of 2012? What will you do with all of your extra time?

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A Higher Truth

"Brr," is now becoming an acceptable response to "How are you doing?" around here.

You know, I enjoy Facebook.

Regardless of any unnecessary changes that might’ve happened to it and any changes that really creep me out that are coming in the near future, I enjoy it because there’s never been anything like it.

For instance, I can tell, without ever talking to a person in real life, whether a person is well-educated, snarky, rude, light-hearted, intriguing, or attractive. I don’t even have to be in the same country as them to know all of this!

Nowadays, I can even enjoy the thoughts of people that I don’t want to “friend” on Facebook. It’s kind of weird to think about, but maybe there’s something positive to take from this. You see, I enjoy Facebook, not because it gives me the opportunity to make split-second judgments about hundreds of people within the span of minutes, but because I enjoy people. And people make me think.

In fact, a couple of people, in particular make me think more often than others. One of my closest friends enjoys shaking things up a bit, and few months ago, he posted a status that spurred on some pretty interesting conversation.

The Facebook status in question.

I posted a response to my friend’s question, but it was just my initial reaction. And, ultimately, my initial reaction was summed up in this post.

As I’ve been chewing on it for a few days, though, I’ve come to another conclusion. And maybe I’d better not call it conclusion, as that implies finality and closure. However, I think I’ve been led to at least a thought or a proposition of sorts. And here it is:

We all seek truth. Of that, I have no doubt. Maybe some of us are a little misguided in our journey, but we're on the same journey, nonetheless. And in our conquest for truth, we seek facts. We want knowledge. Because what higher form of truth is there than the facts? After all, aren't facts the essence of truth?

Why then, can I distort facts? I could use the fact that 50% of marriages end in divorce to support the institution of marriage. Or I can use the same fact to say that marriage is an antiquated ritual with little to no social benefit. And in both instances I can’t be “wrong” because I’m using facts to support my claims. But both positions can’t be correct, can they?

Maybe, then, there’s a higher form of truth. Something God uses to communicate that is more than facts. And I know that my proposition can’t be proven in a court of law or supported by facts, but maybe there’s a higher truth.

To me, that higher truth is found, not in facts, but in story.

Think about it. As a child, were you taught through facts or stories? Even now, consider how you learn. Do you get to know people by uncovering factual information about them (age, height, city of birth), or do you truly get to know people through their stories?

Maybe there’s something more to truth than meets the eye.

Maybe, just maybe, we’re a little off-base when our mindsets are, “Just the facts, ma’am.”

Because maybe, just maybe, there’s something more than just the facts. And something truer, too.

Question: What sort of stories have influenced your life? Can you think of any stories that have truly changed your life? Or do facts communicate truth better to you?

I’d love to hear from you about this! Just leave a comment with your thoughts, opinions, beliefs, stories – just about whatever you want – or shoot me an e-mail!

I'm Getting Old

Alright, I'm not usually one to go on about the weather, but this heat is getting a bit out of control. I thought hurricanes were supposed to cool down the country, not cause a heat stroke!

I've come to a sad realization over the last couple of weeks as school has started: 

I'm getting old, people.

Yeah, yeah. I know. You're probably scrambling, trying to figure out my age so you can decide if I'm crazy. And I'll just help you out here. I'm all of 21 years old. 21 and a half, if we want to get technical.

And sadly, I'm starting to feel old. Why? Well there's a ridiculous number of possibilities.

Possibility #1: I start my day before the sun comes up, which can mean rising from anytime between 4 AM to 6 AM. Around a college town, those are the "forbidden hours." You're only awake because some demented teacher actually wants to push you to learn and grow and actually get something from your $60,000 education. Or because you took a No-Doz a little too late.

Possibility #2: My ridiculously early day doesn't start without coffee. Even today, when my apartment feels like a furnace. If I don't get my coffee (or some ample substitute, for instance, chocolate milk), then please understand why there's a permanent scowl on my face throughout the day.

Possibility #3: If we're going to be obvious here, my lungs are old and decrepit. I do believe my last lung function test described my "Lung Age" as ">84 years old." Ouch.

None of these, though, really make me feel old. I like to think these things make me "unique."

No, it's not until I went to write this blog post that I started to feel old. And then Blogger had to go and say, "Hey, do you want to try out our new interface?" And of course I was curious, so I checked it out.

My first thought?

Why the crap does all this new-fangled stuff keep coming out and all my beloved old stuff keep changing?!

The first indicator of my early-onset old age would probably have to be my unnecessary use of the word "new-fangled." But beyond that...

Seriously, I just can't keep up with everything new! 

First off, it's a new school year. New classes. New teachers. To boot, we have a new system to manage our online classes, which is much more painful as a work-study than as a student. This is followed by other new programs, like Spotify or Google Plus. Or old, reliable programs, like Facebook or Blogger, changing themselves around to look new.

And it's only the second week of school!

So, sadly, I feel myself aging. My initial reaction is frustration, because my heart longs for things to remain where they are. My mind is simply searching for a constant, something, anything that won't change in this world. And frankly, nothing can be found.

So I guess I'm already getting old. In ten or twenty years, I can't even imagine what things are going to be like. I suppose I should probably learn to let go and keep learning. But it's stinking hard.

And gosh darn it, isn't life hard enough without Facebook changing every 2 weeks?!

Question: Have you noticed this trend in your own life? Do you sometimes miss "the way things were?" How have you learned to move on? 

The More the Merrier, Right?

It just started pouring and my first thought was, "How on earth is my rolling backpack going to survive the walk to school?"

My wife is amazing. She's beautiful. She's smart. And I learn from her every day.

Unfortunately, for the saps out there, this post isn't really about her. But I love bragging on her!

The other day she taught me a fact I didn't know. Apparently, on this new-fangled Facebook thing that I keep hearing about, people have, on average, 130 friends. 

In retrospect, I'm not sure what surprised me more. The actual number, or my ridiculous reaction:

"Is that all? Are you sure?"

First of all, my wife is always right. This is a scientifically proven fact. So I don't know why I ever ask, "Are you sure?" But even more surprising to me was my initial reaction. Is having 130 people to network with really not that many?

Goodness gracious we live in some weird times.

What sort of person needs more than 130 people to network with? In fact, when you divide yourself 130 ways, how much of you is really ever given to each of those people? How deep could those relationships truly be?

And then I think about my friends and me. I know very few people my age who have less than 500 "friends" on Facebook. Now, naturally, we know that this includes a few strays, so even if there's 50 people that we somehow managed to "approve" of, that still leaves 450 people to network with.

Who needs 450 friends?!

Not this guy.

Sadly, I'm not sure what to think of this. I finally "de-friended" a few people for the first time the other day. But then a few days later, I added a couple more to my list. And all along, I wonder how deep my friendships truly are. I wonder how committed I truly am to these people. I wonder, is it really possible for me to truly love these people? 

I'm not sure. The example I have set for me through Jesus' life is pretty clear. He had 12ish guys that he kept pretty tight with (which still sounds like a lot to me). And then there were about another 100 people that followed him around. And he had compassion for those people. He loved those people deeply. And he was God in the flesh. 

How on earth can I expect to one-up Jesus? Do I really think that I'm more masterful with relationships than he was? Do I truly believe that I'm capable of establishing meaningful, caring, and compassionate relationships with over 500 people?

Doubt it.

Moral of the story? We need to focus a little more in our relationships. We don't necessarily need to skip straight over to Facebook and purge our "friends" list, but we need to take inventory:

Who am I investing my time in?

Who am I showing love to on a regular basis?
 
Who am I allowing to love me? 

And in all of this, we need to remember: we can have 500 friendships that are an inch deep, but how much of an investment is an inch, really? Do I really care about someone if I'm only willing to give them an inch of who I am? Or do they deserve better? 

Question: What can you do today to deepen one (yes, just one) relationship in your life?

 

Captchaphobia

Yesterday, I was keeping track of what I ate and had consumed 2000 calories by 10 AM. I'm definitely not as skinny as my weight would imply.

Alright, I've got a bone to pick with the Internet. Does the Internet have bones? I don't know. But I'm going to pick one anyway.

Let me preface things with this: I'm pretty good with computers. I understand technology, and I can navigate the Internet like nobody's business. If you need to know something, I can usually figure it out.

However, what I cannot, for the life of me, figure out, are Captchas.

Captchas are this evil invention that keeps spammers from flooding websites with nonsensical dribble about their diet pills that can help you lose 500 lbs in a day. However, they are also so cool that they keep me away from stuff at times. Absurd!

Please tell me I'm not alone in this. Please tell me I'm not the only person who has "failed" a captcha online somewhere. Especially on Facebook. I'm not sure what it is about the captchas on there, but they're meant for space aliens. They don't make any sense! My blood pressure rises a little each time I see that familiar box pop up to confirm that I'm a Homosapien, or at least a really smart monkey. And sometimes, the pressure gets to me.

So maybe I'm crazy, and a little out of my mind, but I'm all for getting rid of captchas. I've had enough of my intelligence being insulted with ridiculous word puzzles every time I want to tell a friend "Happy Birthday" on Facebook. I don't want word puzzles; I just want to use the Internet!

So let's start a petition. Let's get rid of captchas. Until there's a way that people can simply verify that they're human by using a computerized heart rate monitor or blood test, I say... Bring on the spam!

Okay, so maybe I'm being a little facetious. But seriously, am I the only one who has ever failed one of these? Are there any other Internet peculiarities that fluster you? Leave me a comment and let me hear about it! Or e-mail me - I love responding to e-mails! And while you're at it, Share this post with one of those little buttons right there and find a way to follow Life Before the Bucket!