Saturday, July 24, 2010
Choosing a simpler life
by Rick Warren
. . . a time to embrace and a time to refrain. Ecclesiastes 3:5 (NIV)
"You are the only one who can assume responsibility for your time and clarify what's really important to you. "
You'd think that living in Southern California means I'm surrounded by people who live a laid-back lifestyle. The truth is just the opposite: Most of the people I know are trying to cram more and more into each day.
For instance, a couple of years ago, I was with a group of friends driving down the interstate. At one point, I looked around and realized most of us were engaged in some activity other than talking to each other. Two people were on their cell phones; another was working on his BlackBerry; and a fourth was focused on his laptop computer.
As a joke, I declared I felt left out. I called the driver, who was sitting right next to me, and we chatted together on our cell phones for a few minutes! The point of our traveling together in the van was so we could grab time to talk face-to-face! Yet we felt pressed to get it all done.
That's when I realized the truth - we couldn't get it all done, and God never intended for us to make completing a to-do list the purpose of our lives.
The fact is, there are many things we think we must do that really are not worth doing. My point is this: You won't simplify your life by getting an electronic organizer. You won't even find it by convincing your neighbor, who makes Martha Stewart look like a sloth, to give you tips about coordinating your activities while still wearing a perfect dress and pearls like Beaver Cleaver's mom.
Simplifying is really about choices - prioritizing what is important - and then sticking to those choices no matter how tempting it is to add more to your to-do list. In fact, take those tempting activities and put them on a list of things not to do.
You are the only one who can assume responsibility for your time and clarify what's really important to you.
Now maybe you're thinking, "But I have to take care of the kids," or "I have to get this report done by Friday." I'm not naïve about the pressures many people feel today, but it may be that those things - your children, your work - are the priorities you keep on your to-do list, and you move other things to the not-to-do list.
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Funny, that this came into my inbox. I just spent the whole of yesterday nagging at someone about his lack of sleep (actually abit over the past few days too heh) and just a couple of minutes ago another person called me and among the things said, he insisted that he needs to do work. "Must do work" was the slogan.
I cant quite believe it actually, im always telling slackers to stop slacking, to stop screwing up their lives coz they only want to take good a lepak and play games and stuff, to stop being a lazy bum and start moving.
Now recently, I find myself telling people to go to sleep, stop doing work, get more rest, more than telling people to work harder -.-.
SOMETHING IS CLEARLY WRONG HERE YOU KNOW.
Im not talking about people who slack so much then they overwork themselves when its late. Im talking about people who really really work for long hours and all.
Yes yes, you may quote me, I think IB is like some mental disease, and beyond IB, the stress and pressure of this world can be like that too. But you know what, it isnt a fatal disease, you can do something about it.
I can think of three main problems that are mostly avoidable.
First one, working smart. Some people just dont do it. I dare say 80% of the people who studied more for history and scored lower than me for midyears at least either didnt study format, arguments or they studied everything including the useless stuff. Especially for a humanities subject, mugging is not pure memory work. In fact, I would say memory work should be the lesser part of it.
So as a result, people work so hard but they dont get the results.
In a way related is the second point. Overworking. Doing things that are 'work' but really not quite necessary. When answering a question, what are they seeking for? Theres no point just spamming every single thing you know into it, it wont take away your score, but it will take away your time. And this goes on to all other aspects of work. Its part of your work, but is it a necessary part?
Additionally to that, theres doing everything yourself. Thats overworking too.
The final one, is the vicious cycle. You work so much, you dont get enough sleep. You dont get enough sleep, you sleep in school. You sleep in school you dont understand anything, you dont understand anything you find it harder to work, then you work alot. Alternatively, you dont sleep in school, heck you dont sleep, period. Then in which case, your mind gets blurred, you cannot concentrate, there is no clarity of though, work turns into a slow pace, and it goes on.
Breaking the vicious cycle is really your own choice. Sacrifice a lil of your work, choose to break the cycle once and for all, and then recover afterwards.
But I do wonder, it seems that some people really cant. It means they would have to cut down on things like relationships, being there for people and all, and that I do not encourage.
So what for these people?