We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.
-Nelson Mandela
-Nelson Mandela
366 days ago I set out to start this blog as a means of sharing my daily lessons.
Quite unsuccessful as I only documented 20 of those lessons.
So I guess let me start off the year with the 21st lesson.
As I read everyone's post on Facebook of how awful or awesome 2013 was and how excited they are to apply last year's lessons to this year, I ask what's wrong with reflecting everyday?
There's something about starting anew on a Monday, on 1/1, next year. (For which I blame marketing tactics.) Making promises to ourselves that the next week or year will be better. But why not break it down even further? Why not make yourself better the next day, the next hour? Why can't we press that internal restart button spontaneously instead of a programmed start date? There's this fear of change mixed with procrastination to gain some time to rush to all our bad habits before turning a new leaf. Which is why I didn't really make any resolutions. I've been listening to my body whenever it desires to speak loudly. For my birthday and towards the end of this year, I needed to genuinely make changes to my diet. I was unhappy with my energy levels, with the woman I saw in the mirror squeezing into her jeans. So what did I do? I made changes right then and there. Didn't need a new year's resolution, a new week, or a new year. Just good ole desire to change, setting some goals and dedicating the time and energy. Now to apply that same mindset to the other aspects of my life.
We're living in an era where time somehow escapes us, where we feel like in the 24 hours we're blessed with, it's just not enough. By just driving around, the 1 second the light changes, people are quick to honk the horn. Pardon my 5 second lag, that is impeding you from rushing to your destination. I noticed I was no different when I went to Florida and my uncle was grilling some steaks. Five minutes passed and I'm upset that he's not done yet. My uncle shouted from outside, "Joa, this is not New York, everything is not done fast. You need to take it easy." Boy, did that shut me up and it stopped me in my track.
It took me back to the movie "Crank" where Statham's character is poisoned and needs to keep his adrenaline levels high so his life is on 2x speed. That's how I feel like I'm leading my life. If it's not photographed, I probably won't remember. I try to rush everything in one day and don't know how to relax. I feel like that's the product of the 2000s because I remember the 90s being pretty slow paced. Why do I bring this up? Not sure but it's been on my mind lately.
Lesson Learned: We need to live in the moment. These years are zipping by us and we don't realize it until it mid way or the end of the year. Seize the day, stop and restart if you need to. Every day is a new opportunity and use it as so.
