Throw Away the Right Stuff
There was a long hard time when I kept far from me the remembrance of what I had thrown away when I was quite ignorant of its worth. Charles Dickens.
My wife is a simplifier, (I call her a chucker) She is constantly thinning the stuff from her life (and mine). My natural way of thinking is more along the lines of (”I might be able to use that someday” - horder sounds like an over statement…but there may be some truth there)
Still - her wisdom and will prevails and my life, and our family is better for it.
Charles Dickens great quote above invites us to consider a different principle altogether… the discarding things that we simply weren’t wise enough or disciplined enough to keep, keep close and keep safe.
Some of those things may have been… time that was thrown away on the trivial (FB comes to mind), relationships that were neglected instead of nurtured, truths that were taken for granted instead of studied and lived….and on and on.
This year for me is one where I hope and am planning to be more wise about such things. I want to throw away the stuff and distraction and to keep and treasure the true and worthwhile.
Which of course includes the T4D and each of you!
Welcome back to another year of the “Thought 4 the Day”
Sincerely Kirk Weisler
January 7th, 2013 at 11:04 am
This new year I, too, am trying to let go of things I was saving “in case I need it someday”. I’ve made a lot of progress these last few weeks, but still get occasional twinges remembering something sentimental I discarded wondering if I did the right thing. Then I calm myself down by reasoning that the memory and sharing that memory with others is what is important, not the fading newspaper ad, etc. It’s certainly a process, but as I get older I am starting to learn to see the freedom that comes with simplifying. I feel the air getting easier to breathe.
January 7th, 2013 at 11:22 am
I noticed the intentional FB, but read that to be FootBall. I know that isn’t what you meant. However, I did a presentation once where I grabbed the Nielsen TV Top 10 (http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/top10s/television.html) and added up the broadcast time of each of the shows with football being the most time consuming. I took those titles to the meeting and asked who had watched, some, if not all of those shows.
The CableTV ratings were the worst, some had watched multiple college football games in a week.
Then came the questions from me. Have you ever wanted to pursue a degree, but claim you don’t have the time? Have you ever said you want to spend more time with your family, but there isn’t enough time in the day? Have you ever wanted to read a good book, but just couldn’t squeeze it in?
Most people don’t realize how much time they spend watching TV. Its CRAZY! Put your own calculator to the test. I’ve reduced my TV time to about 3 hours a week. I don’t watch sports anymore. I don’t even watch the hightlights reel. Thank you to the Nielsen family for opening my eyes and the eyes of a number of people at that meeting.
January 8th, 2013 at 11:53 pm
I personally think one of the biggest challenges we all face today is picking the ‘right stuff’ to focus on. Never have we lived in a time of more distraction or personal luxury/indulgence leading us away from the right stuff of time in relationships and worthwhile endeavours.
Nice to have you back Kirk.
Daniel