Monday, March 27, 2023
Your greatest gift is to be able to spend your life in your own way. I’m not talking about spending your life trying to get your own way, but spending your life being and thinking the way you wish. There’s a big difference between getting your way and spending your life intentionally. When we earn a dollar, most of us don’t think very deeply about how creatively we can use it. When we earn some free time, we don’t think carefully about how we use it wisely. We “earn” a highly capable brain when we’re born, but few think of how to maximize its use.
Most people are bored, miserable, or busy. Boredom is the absence of creative thinking. Misery is too much thinking of worrisome nonsense. Busyness is simply too much doing. I want to spend my life intentionally. I want to be with people that stimulate me, push me. If I am the smartest person in the room, I’m in the wrong room. I want to be with people who make me think. I want to spend my money intentionally. I want to spend my time exercising my power of choice. That’s intentionality.
Pleasing others; making a living; sitting slack-jawed in front of a phone; or not moving the body are forms of unintentional existence. If you find yourself listless, get up and move. If you find yourself crisp, spend time not thinking. That’s intentional peace. If you find yourself too busy, re-examine your schedule, that’s creating intentional “me” time. Give yourself the gift of choice. Spend your life in your own way, the way of joy. That comes with intentionally spending your time and energy, according to your own will. Your greatest resources are your time and your energy. Live on purpose. Put your intentional intelligence behind those resources, and you’ll win at life.