Sunday, January 4, 2009

am i Living, or merely Surviving?


"Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you ought to set up a life you don't need to escape from."

I swiped this from the blog of Rex Vallis.  It is from Tribes by Seth Godin (which I now really want to read!).  Rex Vallis had other cool snippets from Tribes on his blog, but this particular one caught my eye.


This Christmas break was an amazing and much-needed vacation.  I have been able to stay up late, sleep in, and play with friends and family.  There was hardly a thing I needed to worry about.  Two solid weeks of nothing.  Nothing except things I enjoy.

But alas, all good things must come to an end.
Wait a minute!  Is that really true?

When I saw the quote above it made me wonder, "Why do I hate the life I live?  Why don't I enjoy it more?  Why do I feel like I'm just spinning my wheels?  Why don't I take time to do enjoyable things?"  I'm not talking about the staying up late and sleeping in.  I'm talking about painting for the sake of enjoyment and playing a game of Risk with my brothers just for fun.  I'm talking about going sledding with my friends because it is free, going to bed on time so I don't feel rushed in the mornings, visiting the art museum more often, and keeping my room clean so I can be comfortable in it.

I suppose what I am really talking about is simply getting a hold on my life.  

I hardly feel like I should be saying this, because I'm the King of procrastination.  But I feel that if I can just get on top of things I would find everything I do much more enjoyable.

So this year my goals are geared towards setting up a life that I don't need to escape from.  A life that is productive, creative, and enjoyable.

6 comments:

A said...

huzzah! wow, this is strangely awesome, how similar our lives are. I had like...an hour long talk with my mom about how I need to get a hold on my life, and get my "enthusiasm" about life back...apparently AP chemistry killed it...(its really true!) :]
So, we'll get our lives on track together! A sort of club, if you will.
excellent!

and congrats on posting again! ya crazy!

Breanna said...

Wow. This is amazing! It's ridiculous that I'm always waiting for Friday to come around. I might steal your new years goal.

Eric Evans said...

I understand where you're comming from. Just enjoying the life you have or rather just making the life you have one to be enjoyed is hard when your behind in classes and stressed about other things and you do feel like your spining your wheels. I'm in there with you I am so behind in some classes and with my room ect. that it's going to be a hard road out of the hole i've dug.

Rex Vallis said...

You're joining me in the Renaissance of Kings, aren't you?

Haley said...

I agree! It is sometimes by the minute that I remind myself to be happy with where I am now, somthing that Neal (from what I'm told) was very good at.

If I'm not happy with life now, (despite the situation I find yourself in,) I'm just not really living. If I find the good in every situation and look for the positive in everyone I can be happy right now!

I love that post, Logan.

Thanks a bunch. :)

Saralyn said...

Ok. So, I say too much.. but.. the other day in Ancient Legacies my Professor was stating that anything that is not fairly directly working to bring food, clothing, or shelter to the community or family is leisurely activity and I thought of this post. Random.

Just thought I'd bring that up.

And, actually, the more I think about it.. the more I agree. I have done next to nothing in life (work and school included) that cannot be fit under the catergory of "leisure". Who knew?