Using Discretionary Time Wisely
BY: T. Franklin Murphy | September 1, 2018 (modified January 17, 2023)
BY: T. Franklin Murphy | September 1, 2018 (modified January 17, 2023)
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We prepare for challenges through knowledge and skill building activities. We must exchange our wasteful indulgences for rejuvenating and healthy enjoyments. Life grinds us down, dulling our sharpness. Routine and boredom invade our tidy spaces, frighten our sensibilities, and warn of impending doom. If unprepared, these shifts of psychic strength can spook us into addictions and unhealthy escapes. We must replenish our minds and refuel our spirits. To build resilience, we must actively use the present. A future of richness and opportunity is invited not stumbled upon. We don’t know which challenges the future holds; but we can reasonably ascertain that future holds challenges. We must prepare for these unknown challenges through activity. We create a wider base of knowledge and expertise by being actively engaged in learning, not waiting to see what will happen first. We prepare by reading books on new subjects; taking college course to expand our knowledge; visiting new and fascinating places; getting involved in social activities to meet new people; practicing new hobbies; exercising a little more; or eating a little healthier. The list of constructive work available is endless. A single change may not provide the ultimate meaning you sought; that is okay, try something else. Developing Different Aspects of Our Lives We achieve wellness and soundness of character through development on many plains:
Each sector of human wellness becomes a pillar that we can (and should) constructively work on, utilizing the precious time when the necessary demands don't suck all he precious energy from our being. Instead of vegetating in mind destroying activities, we can constructively replenish, developing our bodies and brains. We should enjoy our practices of constructive rejuvenation, not forceful engagements but enjoyable growth-promoting endeavors that add richness. A constructive life wards off the intrusion of unplanned amusements that do little but distract. Engagement Gives Life Meaning Through active engagement, we find new goals that give life meaning. Through active engagement, we learn as we are exposed to a much wider universe, and through our exposures, we grow. The routineness of life dissipates as we explore the mysterious overlooked opportunities for development. Until we explore, we will not know. Unexpected, we may stumble on new purpose, discovering a new calling, awakened to passions previously unrecognized. The dullness once overwhelming gives way to something better—an aliveness full of vigor and strength. These exciting blessings do not materialize from nothing. They don’t jump to life from mind numbing television watching, or robotic clicks of the mouse. We must constructively reach beyond routine to escape the habits of thoughtless distractions, and purposely invite newness and opportunity into your soon to be expanding lives. |
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