To a certain extent, I've removed a lot of the fun from my life on purpose. I don't mean that to say that I don't have fun or don't have an enjoyable life, but I spend a lot of my time focusing on "productive" activities and what's an efficient or effective use of my time instead of simply enjoying whatever it is I'm doing. If something is not productive in some way, then it's a waste of time. That's been my frame of mind in my adult life and it's been slowly hurting me.
When I first moved to Tacoma, I was faced with a new realization that my adult life and "grown-up" job leaves me a lot less time than graduate school did. After work, I have 5 hours of usable time before I am in bed preparing for the next day. Compared to my previous 16 hours of usable time when I was in graduate school and not occupied by a set work schedule, this was a huge change of pace.
I find myself now wanting to spend the majority of my time being productive. This could mean either exercising, practicing music, or in a faith-development scenario. These are all good things, even great things, but they're not always fun. Forcing myself to practice or exercise takes it from the realm of being a fun activity to being a chore.
I'd compare this shift to the deconstruction of a smoothie. When you are making a healthy smoothie at home, the most popular ingredients are not only spinach and kale for green leafy vegetables, but also any sort of berry, bananas, and yogurt to make it not only healthy but tasty. When you start breaking these things down, yogurt and berries are still good, but not even as good as the vegetables. Have you tasted kale by itself, though? It's not necessarily my favorite food, unless I'm really in the mood for construction paper.
What's happened in my life is a deconstruction of this smoothie. I force myself to eat nothing but kale and spinach because that's what the "healthy" choice is. If it weren't for the berries, though, or the pizza or the french fries in our lives, we may not enjoy eating at all. In the same sense, I've removed "unproductive" things from my life, like watching movies, because they seem like an inefficient use of time. If I'm watching a movie, I'm not reading or practicing or exercising, so it must be a waste of quality time. But how am I supposed to enjoy LIVING if I'm not indulging in the berries and yogurt that makes the spinach palatable?
It's time to get selfish, take time to myself, watch movies, have an interesting conversation with a friend, or just read an article about sports. Either way, it's time to bring back the imagination that's been missing from my real world life.
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Thursday, March 24, 2011
A post by Donald Miller
It's been a little longer than usual since my last blog, I think, and that's not really going to change yet. I'm pretty bogged down with applying for jobs, keeping up with school, and trying to relax enough to recharge my battery.
So instead, here's a link to today's post from Donald Miller's blog. It's a brief, insightful look into a subject I've considered many times: the reality of death. Like many of my posts about it before, Don talks about the drive death gives him to live life to the fullest. Check it out and check back soon for a new post!
So instead, here's a link to today's post from Donald Miller's blog. It's a brief, insightful look into a subject I've considered many times: the reality of death. Like many of my posts about it before, Don talks about the drive death gives him to live life to the fullest. Check it out and check back soon for a new post!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Basketball
Last night I went to play basketball at my friend Scott's church with a bunch of guys he knows from church and Geneva College. It's a weekly game on Sunday nights that has become a staple to my week. I told a few people where I was going when I bolted out of church to head to Mars last night and they commented on how far I was going, which is about a 40 minute drive. Why would I drive so far just to play basketball?
Basketball has been my favorite sport since I was in elementary school because it's always been that release. It's the constant grind that intrigues me. It isn't like soccer or football in that one or two plays can have immense impact on the outcome of a game. To win a basketball game, you have to beat your opponent the entire time. Sure, you'll lose some points on a lot of defensive trips, but because there is so much scoring in basketball it's all about who can do it more over the whole time. In hockey, a few bad bounces can lose a game for a team who may have outplayed their opponent. In baseball, a few bad pitches can change a pitcher's game from a no-hitter to a 5-run loss. These things don't happen in basketball.
Sundays aren't just basketball, though. They're a release. Sunday is my sabbath. I do no work and no worrying on Sundays. Basketball is a way to release the frustrations of the work week and to get re-energized for the week ahead.
The game is so much about rhythm and momentum, just like life. Some nights you can't miss a shot and everything is going your way. Some nights you feel like no shots are going your way and you just keep turning the ball over. The same goes in basketball and life to get out of those ruts. You just have to fight. You get your nose in there, box out the people trying to beat you, and you get that rebound. Then you go back up and try to score again and again until you do. Sometimes the good nights come along without trying and sometimes you have to work hard to win.
In the end, it's just a game, and that's what I love about it. In that moment, all that matters in life is taking the ball and scoring no matter what. There's no school, no job, no relationships, nothing but you, the ball, and 9 other guys trying to do the same thing. You can forget about the world for a few hours and emerge feeling accomplished, whether you won or lost.
We all go back to our lives at the end of the night knowing that we'll all be back again next week with the same goal: winning.
Basketball has been my favorite sport since I was in elementary school because it's always been that release. It's the constant grind that intrigues me. It isn't like soccer or football in that one or two plays can have immense impact on the outcome of a game. To win a basketball game, you have to beat your opponent the entire time. Sure, you'll lose some points on a lot of defensive trips, but because there is so much scoring in basketball it's all about who can do it more over the whole time. In hockey, a few bad bounces can lose a game for a team who may have outplayed their opponent. In baseball, a few bad pitches can change a pitcher's game from a no-hitter to a 5-run loss. These things don't happen in basketball.
Sundays aren't just basketball, though. They're a release. Sunday is my sabbath. I do no work and no worrying on Sundays. Basketball is a way to release the frustrations of the work week and to get re-energized for the week ahead.
The game is so much about rhythm and momentum, just like life. Some nights you can't miss a shot and everything is going your way. Some nights you feel like no shots are going your way and you just keep turning the ball over. The same goes in basketball and life to get out of those ruts. You just have to fight. You get your nose in there, box out the people trying to beat you, and you get that rebound. Then you go back up and try to score again and again until you do. Sometimes the good nights come along without trying and sometimes you have to work hard to win.
In the end, it's just a game, and that's what I love about it. In that moment, all that matters in life is taking the ball and scoring no matter what. There's no school, no job, no relationships, nothing but you, the ball, and 9 other guys trying to do the same thing. You can forget about the world for a few hours and emerge feeling accomplished, whether you won or lost.
We all go back to our lives at the end of the night knowing that we'll all be back again next week with the same goal: winning.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
growing up
at some point we started to grow up. we're not really kids anymore. maybe we stopped being kids when we left for college or when we started driving. maybe it was that first kiss or even the first time we had to do homework instead of going outside to play. either way, we can't really be the kids we once were.
over the past week or so i have thought about this progression a few times. over the course of a handful of years, my life has gone from living in my parents house and paying for nothing besides gas to living on my own, paying rent, buying groceries, and job hunting. this transition happened so seamlessly that i didn't realize it really happened until this week! in this time, i started college where i stopped answering to my parents every day. eventually i moved off-campus, started paying for some of my rent and groceries, and thinking about what to do when college was over.
before i knew it, i am finishing graduate school and looking for a job. i'll start paying students loans and think about where i want to live that might not be pittsburgh. responsibility has come along without much warning, or maybe with plenty of warning.
either way, i don't want to grow up. fact is, i probably won't! while my friends are getting married and starting families, i'm still sitting back hoping that that perfect song comes along soon or that the avett brothers come within a 4 hour radius of our house. career goals? to get a job. something that i like. do i want to be a director? i don't know. probably? i'll get bored with one job and hope to get promoted to another, i'm sure.
the bottom line is that life can be about a lot of things. faith, friends, family, career, money, fame. for me, life is about enjoying every second. those seconds will be gone someday and you'll wish you enjoyed them all to the fullest. today, i encourage you to do whatever you want. do something that will put a smile on your face. or, better yet, do something that will put a smile on someone else's.
over the past week or so i have thought about this progression a few times. over the course of a handful of years, my life has gone from living in my parents house and paying for nothing besides gas to living on my own, paying rent, buying groceries, and job hunting. this transition happened so seamlessly that i didn't realize it really happened until this week! in this time, i started college where i stopped answering to my parents every day. eventually i moved off-campus, started paying for some of my rent and groceries, and thinking about what to do when college was over.
before i knew it, i am finishing graduate school and looking for a job. i'll start paying students loans and think about where i want to live that might not be pittsburgh. responsibility has come along without much warning, or maybe with plenty of warning.
either way, i don't want to grow up. fact is, i probably won't! while my friends are getting married and starting families, i'm still sitting back hoping that that perfect song comes along soon or that the avett brothers come within a 4 hour radius of our house. career goals? to get a job. something that i like. do i want to be a director? i don't know. probably? i'll get bored with one job and hope to get promoted to another, i'm sure.
the bottom line is that life can be about a lot of things. faith, friends, family, career, money, fame. for me, life is about enjoying every second. those seconds will be gone someday and you'll wish you enjoyed them all to the fullest. today, i encourage you to do whatever you want. do something that will put a smile on your face. or, better yet, do something that will put a smile on someone else's.
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