Self,
You have two parts to you. There's your selfish, self-centered part- he shows up more often than he should. We'll call him John Mark. You also have your wiser, better part- that's me. You can call me . . . Herman. In my role, it's my duty to be that "little voice" to you, reminding you that you're not nearly what you should be. You have many problems, worthy of penalty- thankfully, another man covered that for you. You can now examine yourself without fear of judgment, be honest to yourself about what your problems are, and think on what you can do about them. To cover them all would be a difficult task, so we'll just take one at a time.
Today's Note to Self: there are many good things in this world you will never get to experience, and that's okay.
Let me explain. You are blessed to have many interests. Books of all flavors, games without end, music and movies galore, sports, traveling, photography, triggering flash mobs; there's no end to what you enjoy. You're never bored, and that's not bad. What is bad, though, is that you have a fear of missing out on something. That fear leads you to:
- materialism (the constant purchases),
- discontentment (you frequently look to "what next" and seldom enjoy what you have)
- unhealthy fixations (you make goals and obsess over/put too much importance on them)
There's more to it than that (and each of these things deserve their own posts, which I'm sure will come in the future), but that's the gist. Now, the root of these things is your human nature, but we can't fix that with this note. So, let's focus on one element that may help with your overall issue- your fear of missing out. Fear it all you want, but you will miss out- because you can't do it all.
A recent study indicates that about 129 million books have been published. You're read about 3 million so far. Right . . . seriously, you've read around 350. Assuming you read an aggressive 50 books a year for the next 50 years, you'll end up reading about 2850, or .002% of what has been written. This is an estimate- it's likely to be much lower. You may not make .001%. So, you will miss out, guaranteed, on at least 99.998% of what's been written in this world. And guess what- that's okay.
Another big issue is travel. You've been blessed to see over 20 countries in the last few years- more than most see in a lifetime. And yet, you're not overly thankful- instead, you're focused on what to see next. Seeing every country is hard, but doable- there are just over 190 of them- but when you break that down in to seeing every city or worthwhile location in a given country, you yet again have an impossible task. Even picking sites in just one country, you'll never see it all. And guess what- that's okay.
Next topic: photography. You're not a great photographer, but want to be. You obsess over pictures when traveling, and you worry that you'll miss that perfect shot. You probably will, at times. And guess what- that's okay.
On to sports: you love them. You want to participate in many, but there's just not enough time. There are so many cool sports out there- and you'll not get to experience them all. And guess what- that's okay.
We could continue for ages, but just one more topic for today. You love games- you own dozens. You'd play them all frequently, if you had the time and money. But you don't. Just think of the cool games out there- what if you don't get to play them? What if you miss out? You definitely will. And guess what- that's okay.
It's okay to "miss out" because we weren't created to do it all. This world has many things of beauty worth enjoying, but we're not intended to focus our lives on those things at the expense of all else. Enjoy what you have- which is more than you deserve, and enough for several lifetimes- and keep your priorities straight. Many things matter more than getting to do it all.
- Herman
You have two parts to you. There's your selfish, self-centered part- he shows up more often than he should. We'll call him John Mark. You also have your wiser, better part- that's me. You can call me . . . Herman. In my role, it's my duty to be that "little voice" to you, reminding you that you're not nearly what you should be. You have many problems, worthy of penalty- thankfully, another man covered that for you. You can now examine yourself without fear of judgment, be honest to yourself about what your problems are, and think on what you can do about them. To cover them all would be a difficult task, so we'll just take one at a time.
Today's Note to Self: there are many good things in this world you will never get to experience, and that's okay.
Let me explain. You are blessed to have many interests. Books of all flavors, games without end, music and movies galore, sports, traveling, photography, triggering flash mobs; there's no end to what you enjoy. You're never bored, and that's not bad. What is bad, though, is that you have a fear of missing out on something. That fear leads you to:
- materialism (the constant purchases),
- discontentment (you frequently look to "what next" and seldom enjoy what you have)
- unhealthy fixations (you make goals and obsess over/put too much importance on them)
There's more to it than that (and each of these things deserve their own posts, which I'm sure will come in the future), but that's the gist. Now, the root of these things is your human nature, but we can't fix that with this note. So, let's focus on one element that may help with your overall issue- your fear of missing out. Fear it all you want, but you will miss out- because you can't do it all.
A recent study indicates that about 129 million books have been published. You're read about 3 million so far. Right . . . seriously, you've read around 350. Assuming you read an aggressive 50 books a year for the next 50 years, you'll end up reading about 2850, or .002% of what has been written. This is an estimate- it's likely to be much lower. You may not make .001%. So, you will miss out, guaranteed, on at least 99.998% of what's been written in this world. And guess what- that's okay.
Another big issue is travel. You've been blessed to see over 20 countries in the last few years- more than most see in a lifetime. And yet, you're not overly thankful- instead, you're focused on what to see next. Seeing every country is hard, but doable- there are just over 190 of them- but when you break that down in to seeing every city or worthwhile location in a given country, you yet again have an impossible task. Even picking sites in just one country, you'll never see it all. And guess what- that's okay.
Next topic: photography. You're not a great photographer, but want to be. You obsess over pictures when traveling, and you worry that you'll miss that perfect shot. You probably will, at times. And guess what- that's okay.
On to sports: you love them. You want to participate in many, but there's just not enough time. There are so many cool sports out there- and you'll not get to experience them all. And guess what- that's okay.
We could continue for ages, but just one more topic for today. You love games- you own dozens. You'd play them all frequently, if you had the time and money. But you don't. Just think of the cool games out there- what if you don't get to play them? What if you miss out? You definitely will. And guess what- that's okay.
It's okay to "miss out" because we weren't created to do it all. This world has many things of beauty worth enjoying, but we're not intended to focus our lives on those things at the expense of all else. Enjoy what you have- which is more than you deserve, and enough for several lifetimes- and keep your priorities straight. Many things matter more than getting to do it all.
- Herman
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