TIME SHIFTS

Time, what a precious and valuable thing you are. It’s interesting to see how the concept of time shifts in parallel with one’s current life situation. During my first couple years of college, time for me represented a window of opportunity to explore and experience. To be able to excuse irresponsibility and poor decisions because of the lack of  dire consequences that came as a result (except for a bad hangover). As those years passed by, my mindset slowly shifted to highlight priorities such as developing my career and expanding my network. Time became more valuable and less infinite. I carried this mentality throughout my final months of college, enjoying the time spent in my organizations, the conversations I had with my friends, and the spontaneity of escaping to the beach on a Tuesday afternoon.

Then I graduated.

And began working 40 hour weeks.

Time became more valuable and less infinite, but in a different sense. As my life situation changed,  the concept of time also changed. Time became more valuable because of the shortage of hours that I was able to dedicate to myself and time felt less infinite because I knew my Twenties will one day be over. And though this is obvious to everyone and may sound pessimistic to some, trust me when I say that I am writing this with joy and optimistic urgency. Let’s inspect the first part of valuing time.

BE MORE

Take some time to think about your daily routines and habits pre-work and post-work. Be brutally honest with yourself and ask yourself this question, “am I better than who I was yesterday?” It’s incredibly easy to fall into a complacent and comfortable routine of coming home from a long day of work…watch Netflix….play some video games….surf the web….or for me, watch sports. And before you know it, it’s time for bed. For a majority of the United States, and if not the world, this is normal. Normal is good right?

Living a normal life is good. It’s easy. But I vigorously believe that there is no better time than NOW to be more than just, normal. Though we have less hours, we have so much more freedom in pursuing after goals, discovering new hobbies, learning things that YOU want to learn about, and so much more. The habits that we establish today are the ones we’re going to carry ten, twenty years down the line. And yes I understand that we need our breaks and time to just relax, we are after all human beings, not robots! But what I want to ingrain in you is a fresh perspective and mindset to allocate just a little more time into improving yourself. To be more than just normal, to be better than who you were yesterday.

PRECIOUS 20’S

By now, I’m sure you’ve read your fair share of articles on buzzFeed, Thought Catalogue, Linkedin, etc. on topics revolving around all things related with our 20’s, so I’ll keep this section short. My dad once told me that everyone is given an equal amount of 24 hours a day to do what they want with it. Once that 24 hours expires, it’s gone, forever. Everyone at some point during their day, week, or even hour will find their minds reminisce on the past. For some, it evokes a quiet chuckle from an embarrassing moment, for others, a slow shake of the head filled with regret. We’ll reach this point again when we’re in our 30’s, when we we’re married, when we see our grandkids walk their first steps. And we’ll reflect back on our both specific moments of our Twenties as well as our Twenties as a whole. What do you think you’ll be thinking to yourself then?

Our Twenties are a precious time.

Don’t waste it.

AN EXTRA-ORDINARY LIFE

My goal here is not to tell you what the correct path to life is. After all, I’m just a 22 year living and dealing with the same ups and downs as many of you. But I firmly believe that the times and the circumstances that I am living in now is valuable like gold. I refuse to relegate myself to mundanity and have and will continue to do all I can to be more than just ordinary.

Will you join me?

Cheers,

AL