I’ve always been told to enjoy life for it will surely pass you by in the blink of an eye. Growing up I tried taking advantage of this info by partaking in anything I could get my hands on. The older I became the more activities I indulged in and the faster the time flew. As a child, it felt like an eternity advancing from one year to the next. I remember wishing days away as I longed to be of an age that granted more freedom, abilities, and even responsibilities.
Time may appear to crawl in your younger years for a few reasons. As a child you are soaking in the world like a sponge in an attempt to shape your perspective that defines your individual reality. Have you ever been in a car accident or know someone who has? What do they always say? “Everything moved in slow motion.” “It was like I was watching a movie.” “I remember ever single detail.” When your mind is inhaling a wealth of information your perception of time becomes warped. Time itself continues traveling down its never-ending path without a hiccup but your brain leads you to believe otherwise. During these moments of heightened awareness your brain kicks into high and records extra tracks of data to your memory giving you the illusion that time moved in slow motion.
While your childhood days hopefully weren’t filled with car wrecks, time still appeared to move much slower than it does now. This is because you were not only processing new realms? of data in large quantities but simultaneously creating an understanding of the information you were taking in.
Another large reason for those years to feel exaggerated was due to the amount of time we had existed. Think about it, if you are 12 years old, those 12 years are 100% of your life. The same array of 365 days will have only a third of the value to someone who is 31.
During my high school years I was well aware of how important it was to properly balance my life and focus on specific interests or goals. However knowing the answer is only half of the equation. I was over whelmed with interests, talents, and opportunities. My stubborn and immature understanding of how to apply my natural abilities and learned skills to life in order to achieve the subliminal dreams I desired sent me spiraling in a semi controlled fashion which would take longer to decipher than I had anticipated.*(Maybe too long)
(Transition from high school to college life)
While I am in a pleasant and comfortable position in life I cannot allow myself to become complacent. I am happy with where I am at the moment as long as it is just another step towards my goal. For me, life is about constant progress. I have a habit of letting my intentional ignorance lead me away from the correct path. Instead I stubbornly lower my head and blindly rely on my hard work ethic to take me to where I need to be.
You see, having this type of work ethic combined with such a determined mentality would be a great thing if I were able to focus on one or two specific things in life. I might even be able to get by with squeezing in a third. But no, not I. I have this terrible addiction to life and it will be the death of me.
From an early age I learned how to multitask and over the years have perfected it thanks to my logic, resourcefulness, and years of experience. However what I did overlook the importance of is proper balance across the board. Especially it’s discipline. While I am incredibly disciplined in certain aspects of life, (Example) others I have little to no discipline. My list of interests, hobbies, and things to do are longer than I even have time to get into.
– (Needs more detail and life examples) I’ve always known the importance of focus in life but have been deceived with the curse of talent. Now I am very blessed to have been given such a wide range of both natural and acquired abilities but my lack of discipline has contributed to *only marginal* success in each thing I pursue. (Very Honest – Very good)
The physical and psychological reasons behind this dilemma are worth its own post. Essentially I was intoxicated off the fumes of my seemingly superhero abilities and felt as if I was unstoppable. The more I piled on the more accomplished I felt.
When you combine my short attention span, need for instant gratification, and a constant desire for change, it lead to my gradual loss of interest in various hobbies/activities. Although I quickly excelled in whatever I chose to try, my limited time spent prevented me from rising to a level of greatness.
I spread myself thin and poured my heart into *need example. If you try to spread your talents across too many things you will lose sight of where you’re going. You will burn out faster than you were meant to or worse you may break and never be the same again.
However, it is never too late to make a change. Turn things around. It is remarkable how much the body and mind can endure and recover from. Think of people who have survived terrible car accidents and recovered to a normal state even when they were told it was impossible. Drug addicts who turn their life back around and recuperate. Positive change at any point will always deter you from the outcome of your downward spiral.
Like making a cloth from a single a spool of thread, it is very tempting to make a large sheet with hopes of covering the most area possible. However, it may be too late before you realize your sheet can be seen through and easily tear.
In life you only get one spool. Make your thread count.
