No, I don't think this blog is a waste of time, but it's easy to let it become something to that effect. The Rebelution has a post called "Stop Wasting Time" that caught my attention. In it, they write:
... there are millions of little distractions fighting for things much more valuable than our money -- they're fighting for our character and competence.
They might seem harmless -- the book we've already read, the online forum or message board where we "reach out," the 5-minute video we found online, the new World Magazine comic section, the video game that's fun and clean, a review of the latest star-studded flick, or that article on Google News about the kitten with two heads.
Harmless? Not at all. The price is the character that might have been and the competence that would have been. If we were to devote all the time we spend reading random news stories online to reading life-changing, soul-feeding books, how might our relationship with Christ flourish?
I do not totally disagree with the brothers Harris, but I'd like to think through the idea they present. There is a danger in attempting to conciously utilize every second of our existence; but then again, there is a danger in just letting your life slide by without any thought.
The internet seems to be designed to grab your attention and fling it from one site to another. Even if you start out searching for one sliver of information, you can easily end up reading about something totally unrelated. TV has a similiar affect in that it makes you think, "Well, if there's nothing good on this channel now, I might find something on another channel, and if there isn't anything anywhere else, by the time I come back here, there will be something to watch!" At least, that's what goes through my mind when I channel surf. Those are pretty good time-wasters.
The real problem with this time-wasting is that it isn't a once in a while thing (a lot of this applies to me, but I suspect others deal with it too), it is almost a basic state of living. When I have no immediate thing to do, I automatically go into "nothing mode."
What's the solution? I think I would call it "living deliberately." This isn't a comprehensive philosophy for life, just an idea: Anytime you start doing something without thinking, like channel or web surfing, stop and consider if there is something a little more worthwhile that you could be doing. Pretty much all the time, there is.
I am not saying that there is no room for rest or relaxation in life. I am also not saying that some things are good to come back to again and again. The point is that our time is precious. We don't need to do world-changing things every minute of our day, but we can do things that improve ourselves, get us closer to God and make the world a slightly better place.
4 comments:
Hey, this is a really good topic to bring up and discuss. I have the same problem... when I don't have anything I really have to do or want to do, I go into the computer and sit for hours resurfing the same sites to see if something new has come up.
A suggestion I would make for people who have this same problem would be to "wean" yourself off of this habit and set a definite time limit during which you can do "nothing." After I've used up my hour, I find that I start looking for constructive things to do, like reading, drawing, helping my mom with chores, writing letters I haven't responded to in weeks, etc.
Speaking of which, gotta go :)
Great idea. It feels great at the end of a day, when you know you did good things that you enjoy. If you just sit around all day, it feels like a waste.
I kind of enjoy the zone.
Yeah ... me too. But it wants to take over my life.
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