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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Enjoying Life

As complicated as we make it, joy is a simple thing.

It isn't happiness - most of us know that.

It isn't monetary wealth - that should be obvious.

It is something more. Something we should strive for. We are able to find joy when we are able to praise God in what we are doing.

What does that have to do with the new year, though? How does joy help us to lose weight or to become a better person?

photo credit: lusi - sxc.hu

Take losing weight for instance. If you want to lose weight, don't do it in a way that you hate. It'll never work. No matter what you do, if you're not enjoying yourself, you're not going to be living life to the fullest.

Instead, find a way to lose weight (or whatever it is that you're doing) that allows you to praise God. This might mean doing things a little differently than they do it on the Biggest Loser. It might mean running. Or swimming. Or biking. Or all three!

Do what you truly enjoy to truly experience joy.

For me, this means finding a way to take 5000 pictures this year in a way that I find fulfilling. Last year, I had this same goal and fell short. There's a reason, though. I fell short because I let myself become paralyzed by the fact that I wasn't doing it "right" or wasn't becoming a photographer in the same way my friends were.

Don't let the fear of doing something "wrong" paralyze you from doing it at all.

And the best way to avoid this paralyzing fear? To find joy in what you're doing by enjoying what you do enough to be able to praise God.

Now this doesn't mean you have to be singing a song of praise to God while you're on mile twenty-six of your first marathon. Heck, you don't even have to be thinking of him. However, you do need to be enjoying yourself to truly be accomplishing something.

If you decide to praise God because of that - great.

If not, don't feel guilty. God didn't give us freedom in Jesus so that we would feel guilt every time we don't worship him. In fact, it's the exact opposite. Freedom means being able to do anything we enjoy that puts us in a better position to find joy and to be able to praise God.

Today, do yourself a favor and enjoy life.

You'll find yourself that much closer to discovering true joy.

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Questions: What do you enjoy doing? What brings you the most joy? What facet of your life is hardest to enjoy?

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Take a Moment

You and I, we're separated by a lot. Maybe you aren't in the same city as me. Or the same state. Heck, maybe you don't live in the same country as me. Or believe in the same God as me. Maybe you're not an introvert like me. There's a strong possibility that you're not the same gender as me. And most likely, you don't obsess over coffee like me.

However, we have something in common. We share something. To see this, I want you to look around for a moment. Tilt the laptop screen down, take a slow, deep breath, and take in your surroundings. Chances are, you saw what I just saw as I was digging for something to write about...

People.

photo credit: ontzy - stock.xchng

They're everywhere. And unless you're a hermit living in Antarctica (in which case, I applaud you), you're surrounded by them. Maybe they're in the same room as you. Or maybe there's just a picture of them hanging in front of you, serving as a reminder of actual people who have impacted your life.

Either way, you live among people and in relationship with others. These people make a radical difference in the way you live your life. And when you think about it, it's amazing how certain people can hinder you from living life to the fullest while others can push you to live life more fully.

Take a moment. Right now, if you please, to thank those people. They make you who you are. Without them, where would you be? Who would you be? What would you be? And after you thank them, ask for their help, because you need it. I know this because without the people in my life, I too would be helpless.

Take a moment and ask them to push you this year. To build you up instead of tearing you down. To help you be yourself rather than who they want you to be. These people, they matter. And whether they're hanging in a picture frame or sitting next to you as you read, you wouldn't be half the person you are without them.

Remember those people as this year progresses, those people who make you who you are. And let them help you. Let them carry you when necessary. And when it's your turn, help them back. Be their shoulder to cry on. 

Regardless of how many goals or resolutions you accomplish this year, take a moment and remember the people around you. Because they matter. Because they care. And most of all, because you wouldn't be you without them.

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Questions: Who has impacted you most in your life? What have they done to impact you? Who can you thank today for helping you to become the person you want to be?

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Life Happens

It's the third day of 2012 - January 3rd, in case you missed it.

How many resolutions have you already given up on?

It's amazing how a new year reinvigorates us. Once the clock strikes midnight on the 1st, we feel like superheroes; we can do anything!

And then it happens.

Your car won't start. Your laptop crashes. You lose your job.

Who saw that coming?

That's what we like to call life.

In 2011, I managed to accomplish 44 goals. When I originally wrote out my list of goals, though, I was sure I could accomplish more. However, I didn't envision my health declining so quickly as we found out I had the lungs of an 85 year old. Life happened.

And so, as 2012 begins, I want to share something with you. This is important, so listen up.

No, seriously. You should write this down.

What I want to share is this: regardless of how much we try, we cannot keep bad things from happening.

photo credit: dnabil - stock.xchng

Sometimes, life locks the door and refuses to let us in.

What we can do, though, is realize that life won't go "according to plan," and, well, plan accordingly.

How will you react when your best friend moves away? Or when your car is broken into? How about when a family member passes away unexpectedly?

Choose now, right here in this moment, to overcome. To rise above your circumstances and realize that they are just that: circumstances, which will inevitably change. Instead of fearing the curve balls life will throw you, choose to take a swing at them. Go down swinging instead of watching life pass you by.

You'll be surprised at how much you can accomplish.

You may be determined to live life to the fullest today, but when tomorrow comes and it happens, how will you choose to react?

Choose today to become something more.

Choose to react with courage and determination.

Choose to live life instead of simply letting life happen to you.

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Questions: What unexpected obstacles did you face in 2011? What do you expect to face in 2012? What can you do today to give yourself a better chance to succeed tomorrow?

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Starting Strong

It's that time of year again: memories of a year passed are being revisited, new goals are being set, and none of us can seem to write the date correctly.

Don't worry, you'll figure out that it's 2012 just in time for it to be 2013. 

I'd like to think that this is the time of year when Life Before the Bucket should be in its prime. And since this blog was birthed from my bucket list, the beginning of a new year screams, "WRITE ABOUT YOUR NEW GOALS!"

But first, I want to remember. To recall. To enjoy what has happened so that I can appreciate what's to come.

Last year, I set 111 goals to accomplish in 2011. Needless to say, I didn't achieve them all. However, I definitely did more than I would have if I didn't have the goals in the first place. I managed to cross fourty-four goals off of my list last year. And if I would've tried harder, I could have done more.

And isn't that always the issue?

We work, we play, and we live life, hoping to make the best of it. But sometimes, we don't want to try any longer. We form a skewed sense of entitlement: "I've done this well so far; why do I need to keep applying  myself?"

And therein lies a critical mistake that we make in most of our endeavors: we stop trying.

This habit forms early, while we're still in school. We go through 12 years of school, and by the time we hit the 13th - our senior year - we think we deserve a break! After all, we have already shown that we can do the "school" thing for twelve straight years; why should we keep trying? Fortunately, most of us manage to survive school, despite such an attitude.

But life isn't school. You don't get to skate through the "classes" you don't enjoy. You don't get to "graduate."  Instead, life demands that you face it head-on until you've breathed your very last.

Sure, you've done pretty well in life so far - after all, look at all of your accolades! And while you should be commended for how you've fought so far to live a life of intentionality, it doesn't stop here. It's a new year, people, and there are new challenges ahead.

I, for one, am excited. Ecstatic, even. I can't wait to make 2012 one of the most memorable years of my life. But I can't do that if I don't try.

So as you begin 2012, consider making one of your resolutions to try harder than you did last year. Let this year be different. Make it impossible to say, "And if I would've tried harder, I could have done more."

Because you can try harder, and I know you will.

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Questions: What are some of your goals for 2012? How can you try harder this year? 


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