My wish for my children, my family, my employees is that they all reach their full potential. Go. Be. Do. Try things out. See what works, and what doesn’t. Try something else. Get off the couch, away from Tumblr, and become creators instead of consumers. That’s not to say that all consumption is bad. I believe that people who only consume are dooming themselves to a life of failing to perform, and experience the full range of the world around them.
I think that people do need time to recharge their batteries, and they need that down time. I also think that we tend to coddle our children and give them too much down time and idle time in this country. What do your kids do on breaks? Do they sit on the couch and “just relax”? Or do they do more? For me, I object to my kids just sitting on the couch, relaxing, and wasting their time away. Time is something that we never get more of. Once it is spent, there is no do-over, or getting it back. It’s gone. So, how are you spending your time? Are you changing your world around you? Or are you just watching the next sports game on TV? Or video on Youtube?
This is also about being mindful of your time. It is also about making a point of doing things, and experiencing life when you have the opportunities to do so. I try to encourage my kids to start blogs, or build something at home. Why not build a river in the back yard, and see how the water flows? Why not paint a picture, or build a lego building? Read a new kind of book. Why not start a community service project, or learn about something new in the world?
Go out. Explore the world. Be something. Try it out. Do it a few times. Maybe try something else. But don’t just sit around all day, waiting for life to come to you.