Time

Time is the most valuable commodity. Everyone has time, but not everyone uses the time they have equally.

You have all these ideas about things you want (goals, aspirations, whatever). You want to have a lot of money, you want to buy a new car, you want to have a nice body, you want a better job, a nicer house. All of these things are easily attainable. You simply have to decide exactly what it is you want, and how you are going to use the time you have to get it.

So you sit down. You have time. What do you wanna do? Playing video games sounds like a great idea! It'll be fun, you can pass the time, forget about the struggles of life, and besides, you need to do those daily quests that have been building up anyway. Or you could watch the new episodes of the League! That show is hilarious. It'll make you feel good instantly, you can laugh, enjoy yourself, relax, and PASS THE TIME easily.

But what if you stopped doing things 'just to pass the time' and instead started treating TIME like the VALUABLE commodity it is? Say you've already started a workout plan and you've been doing pretty well with it the last month. You've made a few gains, you've stayed pretty much on track, and it feels good to be using your time proactively rather than passively.

You know in your mind that you should workout right now. But RIGHT NOW, in the moment, it's the weekend. You've had a long week, you're tired, and you just want to relax a little bit. Hell, you DESERVE to relax. What's so bad about that? Here's where a mental breakpoint needs to happen. This is the difference between instant gratification and delayed gratification.

If you spend your time getting your instant gratification, it will feel good AS LONG AS YOU ARE DOING IT. It will distract you from the things that are more important to you, and you will enjoy it. But as soon as it is over, you will know that you made the wrong choice. You may feel guilt, or even regret. The time you had is gone, forever lost, and the gratification with it. All that's left is an empty feeling and the knowledge that you spent your most valuable resource on something that doesn't really matter to you.

Our human lives are short--VERY fucking short. You NEED to REALIZE--EVERY DAY--just how VALUABLE your time is. You HAVE to find a way to give yourself a serious fucking reality check. Otherwise your entire life is going to pass by in an instant. You'll find yourself on your deathbed, thinking, "My god. What the fuck have I done?"

Anyone can sit down and play video games or watch TV or drink or get high. It's so easy. Instant gratification. Anyone can also set goals, devise strategies to achieve them, then divide and conquer. Delayed gratification. But what do most people do?

One is easy, one is hard. One feels good for a few hours, one feels GREAT for a lifetime.

Don't you want to live an extraordinary life?

To me, instant gratification feels like opting out. Life is a great game of strategy and war. It's beautiful and exciting and full of endless possibilities. Televisions and computers and cell phones can be such huge black holes for time. Used as tools, they can be infinitely useful. Used for instant gratification, they can be infinitely destructive.

By no means am I saying that I am perfect and always make the stronger choice. More than anything, this is a reality check/course correction for myself.