STUFF I THOUGHT ABOUT ON MY RECENT MOTORCYCLE TRIP

Most people spend nearly two hours every day reading the news (of which they can do absolutely ZERO about) and diddling around on social media. They then spend 2.5 hours ensconced in front of the idiot box.

Two hours.

Plus 2.5 hours.

Four and a half hours being involved in stuff that has no impact, no benefit, no direct bearing on their lives. Although the media and producers do everything in their power to make us believe it IS VITAL.

That’s how they get paid. Natural… and fine. It is their business and they are very good at it.

I rarely look at the news anymore. It isn’t really ‘news’ anymore. It is silliness and ratings grabs for more money.

And I spend as much time on social media as I have info to give. All but totally stopped looking at my “home” or ‘feed’ as it is full of stuff that will have no impact on my life whatsoever.

I know it is shocking to some, but I don’t care what political crap you espouse. Or who you are desperately giving up the only time you will ever have in your life to promote.

Those 4.5 hours most people have sacrificed on the altar of the great pop-culture idols of mediocrity will NEVER be recovered. Time spent being angry over something that happened to someone else, something we have absolutely NO control over is lost forever.

And for what?

I did a lot of thinking on those 3100+ miles in the saddle last week. And a lot of it was about how much time I waste caring about shit that ain’t NEVAH gonna impact my life.

And of course, what I do has no bearing on your life. Why would you care about my reading the news or political beliefs?

But I know that if I can use those hours to do something, then I may be able to maximize what I have instead of sitting passively by while others create the pablum I have been trained to crave.

Just think.

If I devoted an hour a day to writing, I may do as many as three books a year. If I devoted an hour a day to shooting, I may create 365 more images next year. If an hour a day I spent reading good books did anything, it would most likely be a positive outcome.

I feel guilty when I think of all the time wasted, and how short the time left is.

Time is the asset we should covet most.

Where we spend it, with whom we spend it, and how we spend it should be carefully considered. And yet…

It seems like it has become the asset we most frivolously toss aside in the pursuit of baser, less interesting activities.

I urge you to think about how you allocate your time and ask two critical questions about your use of it.

1. Will this impact my life for the better?
2. Is there anything else I could do with this block of time that WOULD impact my life?

Then choose wisely.

PS;

Some of you may think this is selfish behavior. It is. I make no apologies for being selfish with my time and my life.

However, I am not advocating being cut off from the world, nor am I advocating a ‘selfish’ lifestyle for myself.

Yes, indeed I am involved in the campaign for a local politician. I give time and talent to make sure that person is elected. I work with environmental projects and civil rights projects as well.

But those were obvious when I asked the critical question… will this impact my life.

Yes. Being actively involved in working on these projects DOES indeed impact my life positively. For the joy of the effort, if nothing at all.

It means we pick and choose what we want to be involved with, and then GET INVOLVED.

Sitting angrily behind a laptop spewing onto social media is not being actively involved. It is a huge waste of time.

The mother of all timesucks.

And I want nothing to do with it anymore.