Time

This is my first blogpost in a month.  The main purpose of this post is to get me back into the habit of writing down my thoughts and publishing them for all the world to see.

Here then is a random musing on time.  Time is probably our most valuable resource, yet so many of us let it slip away while meaninglessly consuming endless amounts of television, video games, or the internet (I am definitely included in the last category).  There is so much more to life!  Why do we sit here and twiddle our thumbs, when there is so much life to live?  Don't waste your time; go do something!

Or so goes the classic American mantra.  "Go do something.  Don't waste your time."  Off we go, running here and there, taking our meals to go, texting instead of taking the time to communicate, planning everything so that we can fit it all in and not miss anything in life.  Yet ironically, this is a surefire way to miss what really matters in life: friends, family, and the serendipity of being open to whatever comes your way.  So simply filling up your day with an endless to-do list also does not make great use of the gift of time.

My high school English teacher Mrs. Sack once taught me a Henry David Thoreau quote about time.  To this day, it remains one of my favorite quotes:

“Time is but the stream I go fishing in. I drink at it, but while I drink I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. It's thin current slides away, but eternity remains.”

How true this quote rings, yet how difficult it is to truly understand.

I talk of time because of how quickly the last month seemed to pass.  I had many grand plans for June, but most of my goals were not accomplished.  Yet I experienced a great deal, especially during a ten day trip to the Pacific Northwest for a Sierra Student Coalition organizing camp.  During my time in Washington State, I myself sat on the banks of a mountain stream and watched as the shallow water, bound with the time, passed me by.

So begins a new month, and with it new opportunities to run or to walk, to dance or to sit, to participate fully in life or to sit on the sidelines.  I hope to dance and live every moment to its fullest potential.  But I know from 20 years of past experience that this a lot easier said than done.  

And so I ask, how can I find sustainable inspiration?  Can I find a sustainable interest for my pursuits, or will I continue to bounce from topic to topic?  What is a sustainable way to plan for life, with all of it's unknown twists and turns?  And can I find sustainable happiness?

Only time will tell.