What you subscribe to takes away your time

What you subscribe to takes away your time. And its not just Netflix or Mubi or instagram or a newsletter. Its also the bigger ideas in life. Religion, philosophies, principles, systems, they all make you do things that you wouldn’t have if you were not aligned to them. And doing things takes time, the only absolute finite resource you have. Every other thing melts down in importance in front of the resource of time.

Yes, you’re gonna live through it one way or another, but that shouldn’t be a matter of triviality. You can accumulate peace, wisdom, happiness, prosperity through the time you have, for yourself as well as for others, or, conversely, you can accumulate hurt, pain, frustrations and regrets, through the same time resource depending on how you use it.

So when you pull your socks for a run subscribing to a fitness regime, pull up your fine shirt for the evening mass, join a company where you’re gonna work day in - day out, ask yourself, what are you going to accumulate out of it in your mind and body?

Wander - Wonder

There are two ways to look about work. One that some external motivation will hit us and we will be inspired to act. Two that we show up every day regardless and put in the work and the work in itself will motivate us to do more work.

As you keep excavating into parts of our mind that you havn’t earlier thrown a light upon, you find interesting, curious, funny, exhilarating, mysterious things that will keep you excited. Like an explorer on the uncharted lands of your mindscape, you will encounter wonders that only you are allowed to find. You might find common banal things that others find in their own minds or you might find gems that are rarer than the most precious stones in its uniqueness. And with every trip you will come out with something that you are excited to share with others like a child.

Share that loving, precious thing you find and go back in to explore more. It is the wonder that creates motivation, a very personal form of motivation, intrinsic and unique to you. Go to your creative cave, forest, mountain, desert, equipped with wonder in your hearts.

Joy of distancing

A small gleaning from Austin Kleon’s blog:

Some People are Toxic. Avoid Them. T]here is a test to determine whether someone is toxic or nourishing in your relationship with them. Here is the test: You have spent some time with this person, either you have a drink or go for dinner or you go to a ball game. It doesn’t matter very much but at the end of that time you observe whether you are more energized or less energized. Whether you are tired or whether you are exhilarated. If you are more tired then you have been poisoned. If you have more energy you have been nourished. The test is almost infallible and I suggest that you use it for the rest of your life. - Milton Glaser

It is important to recognize the tasks, the actions and the people who are vampires in your life. Often lovingly we end up allowing too much time and proximity to the undeserving. A proximity that is bound to someday hurt you or at the least, stray you away from what you strive for. Saying NO, is the best thing. If saying no is hard, start with keeping a distance and tapering off the energy you spend incrementally. You will definitely thank yourself for it.