Learning to evaluate your life and determine what is adding value and meaning and what is actually distracting you from a purposeful life is essential if you want to achieve your goals.
I can say with absolute confidence that I don’t think anyone will lament on their deathbed that they did not spend more time on the Internet or watching TV. I don’t think any dying soul will wish they had accumulated more material items.
Have you ever noticed that the more you own, the more time you spend maintaining all of that?
Recently I started looking at my wardrobe a bit differently. I keep track of what I spend on an item and then I look at how many times I end up wearing it before I decide it’s out of style and end up giving it to Goodwill. There are items I have bought that I’ve worn only once and items that I have worn out. So it cost me $24 if I wear that blouse only once. If I wear the same blouse 10 times it cost me $2.40 each time I wear it. This really put things in perspective for me. It wasn’t about even so much about the money. But I actually went out shopping for three hours and bought a blouse for $24 to only wear it once. It’s more about the time wasted than money spent.
And it’s like that with so many other items that we purchase. We end up cleaning and maintaining and rearranging and trying to make space for items we never or rarely use. How insane is that!
I turned 50 years old this year! My boyfriend jokingly tells people that he is over half dead. It’s funny but you know… It’s true.
How much time do we waste on mindless activities that ultimately do not fulfill us?
How much of our lives get wasted cleaning, maintaining, and organizing worthless crap?
How much time do we waste on mindless activities that ultimately do not fulfill us?
How much of that time could actually be spent on things that truly matter? Like nurturing our relationships. Our children need us. Our partners need us. The world needs us to go out and make a difference.Nursing homes are filled with sad and lonely elderly people who never receive a single visit. Homeless people line our city streets.
The environmental crisis continues to worsen. No one has time to prepare homemade food, eat at home, or buy organic.
This article is not meant to be depressing. It is meant to be an encouragement to reevaluate your life. Take a moment today to write down your priorities.
How does your time expenditure reflect those priorities?
What distractions are keeping you from spending time on the things you truly value?
Are you spending time each day developing yourself into a better person?
Taking an inventory like this can be a truly life-changing experience!
