Saturday, September 11, 2010

Life’s Too Short…

Whenever I pick up a new book to read I am very happy, drunk with anticipation that this new venture into this writer’s mind will be a trip well worth the effort and investment.  As a book collector and bibliophile, I research which books I allow to intruded upon my precious allotment of time, so I am seldom displeased with my choice of reading, be it for pleasure or research.  But there are times when all that preparation and forethought does not work out and I find myself ensconced inside a bad read.  What do I do?  I sadly shake my head, offer a nod of apology to the author, who I know firsthand toiled at the keyboard for his or her art and passion, and put the book aside.  Why?

“Because life’s too short to read bad books.”
                                                                      ~ Mike Foster

In fact, when you think about the amount of time we are allowed to spend on this planet, alive, existing, doing that thing called living our lives, it is but a mere dust mote of time.  Time that should not be wasted.  Why?

Because life’s too short…to not do all the things you need and want to do to be all that you must to fulfill your time on earth.



Not to say that we should not kick back, stop and smell the flowers, chill out with friends and family doing nothing but enjoying the moment.  Of course not; all of the above are necessities in living one’s life completely, to it fullest.  Balancing one’s priorities with hobbies, relaxation, enjoyment, and all those things in between is part of the challenge of daily existence.

My point today is not to waste your time, or life, by doing anything that does not make you happy, more enriched, better, smarter, healthier, wealthier, more spiritual…fulfilled.  Why?

Because life’s too short to…(fill in the blank).

If you hate your job, leave it.  When I talk to people who appear miserable with their jobs, I tell them that I feel sorry for them that they have miserable lives.  They look at me, shocked, and say that their life is not miserable, only their jobs.  To that I say  to them:

“If you hate your job you in essence hate your life.  Change it.”

And not just a career that is making you unhappy, but any other aspect of your life.  If you don’t like where you live, or who you live with, think about it.  That is a major part of your days, your time on earth.  If it is not the situation that you want, you need to look into the whys and hows and ways to remedy said situation.  Easier said than done, yes, but ignoring a problem is not fixing it.


And ignoring our life is, well, a waste of a life.  After all, it’s your life, your time on earth, and the last thing anyone wants to do in their golden years is to look back ruefully at a life unfulfilled, wasted, and not the one that you envisioned living.  Think about it.

Life’s too short to…

Do anything that  you should not be doing that gets in the way of living your life to its fullest, every day in every way, 365.

I’d love to hear your comments on some of the things that  you feel are a waste of your life…and how you are trying to change them, and your life for the better.

Until next time…


peace,

Mike

9 comments:

Karen and Gerard said...

My job is just that, a job. It gives my very good health benefits and a nice paycheck. Unfortunately, it's not something I am passionate about. I just feel I'm too close to retirement to try changing it now.

Derek said...

At the end of the day, nothing really matters anyway. As a Zen practitioner, my aim is to see each and every moment mindfully and transcend this thing we call time.

The beach pebble is equally as important as Mt. Everest.. They're rocks. Just part of the whole rock-thing. Same with whatever I am doing - it is stuff - no point in judging what is more, what is less...

Just my way of seeing things in my journey-less journey.. :-)

Ezmelts said...

Unfortunately, when you are in school, you don't get to choose which books you can stop reading!
Fortunately they're not all too bad.

caleb John said...

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Lisa said...

Nice! I have been over and over this concept for years. Finally, I have begun to do what it is that truly makes me happy, healthy and enriched. Baby steps...but steps towards that end it is!

Susan Blake said...

Hi Mike! So here's ANOTHER philosophy I have spouted for years - life's too short! I so agree, obviously! My other one is "It's never too late..." and I've embraced that myself as I've been in school all this year getting certified as a nutritional counselor. My blog content for months has been all natural health and wellness articles - I hope to have a website early next year and will blog there or link up, not sure, but point is it has been very very exciting! I do LOVE what I do! :) Hope you'll pop in sometime, I've missed your comments!

Dwacon said...

Hey, Mike!

I have been both reading and WRITING books... two are at Barnes & Noble and Apple iBooks (among other outlets) and a third is being reviewed pre-publication.

It is ALL GOOD my friend!

d.c.

Property said...

Life is too short so enjoy it,nice article keep sharing

Cara said...

And in somehow somewhat lovely form, life is not just an oscillation, but a cycle. I just want to live life to the extent of handing my tired hands to others for it to be new again. And that could be more than a tongue can tell, inside the circumference of caring and loving I learned from a mundane senior housing Pittsburgh. Thus life is what makes life living, just like what have you’ve written here, that we have to live life the fullest. Retirement homes, palatable family relationships, and never ending happiness are the result of years of labors. And I can say that I am really in my happiest.