I’ve had to put a hold on many things to attend to that exciting thing known as school. It is my senior year, and I’m just three weeks away from three months of freedom. Unfortunately, I was forced to take multiple of AP classes, so I’m overwhelmed with work, not something I imagined happening senior year. But today, all the exams are done, and it’s just two weeks of nothing. Just waiting and preparation for the final exams. It’s rather excruciating because I have a mile long to do list.
It was only last summer that I realized how valuable time was, when I was unable to do anything because of my first job, a 9-5. Every day I would get on the bus, ride 45 minutes downtown. The way back was roughly an hour. So from 7:45-6:30, I could not do anything. That summer I had planned so many exciting things to do. All of it impossible, because of the job. However, it did teach me that I would do whatever I could to avoid this.
Not being able to do all the things I wanted made me regret is having wasted all those hours mindlessly playing video games and Flash games instead of doing exciting things or bettering myself. Since then, I’ve put things in more perspective, and with the help of the revolution that is the internet, hoping that I can achieve all of it.
I originally stored this on Windows Live Labs Listas, but the thing kept crashing and refusing to function, so the list is now on a txt file file on my hard drive. Originally this had a slightly more morbid name, but I saw a similar list a while back, and have adopted this more optimistic one. The “Lifetime To Do List”. You can put your entire life in perspective through this. Here is just a tiny sample of the countless things I would like to do.
- Bike across America
- Trek through a part of the Amazon Rainforest on foot
- Sky dive
- See an exploding volcano
- Go to an old growth forest
- Live alone in a cabin in the middle of the woods for 3 months
- Pass a day or a week without a care in the world
- Create crazy new product like Snuggie or ShamWow.
- Learn landscape design
- Become a sommelierLearn to match wine with cheese
- Improve my graphic design skills
- Revive my drawing skills
- Learn to oil paint
- Become a master chef
- Master wood carving
- Master stone carving
- Become an IT pro
- Master ironworking
- Improve my photography skillsLearn to tie knots like a sailor
- Build a car
So get a lifetime to do list. It will put things in perspective. This summer is especially significant because it is the summer before college. It’s the last opportunity for true freedom. Afterward it’s onto jobs, taxes, etc.
Interesting list. I too have a lot of schoolwork that needs to get done (as well as a job) and it’s hard to balance all this. Especially without a car. I wish I had more time for leisure.
Once you are retired and have more time for leisure, you’ll wish you were back to now, believe me!
I completely agree with TG. As one ages, the days seem to pass more slowly and the years more quickly. re: your question, yes the type of brain wave driving and entrainment are quite possible. The site you mentioned seemed somewhere between useless and dangerous. Google “brain waves” without the quotes and you will find far more information than I could write in hours. All things considered, backpacking into a forest and just sitting for a week appeals to me more than most of the other goals you have set for yourself. Good luck, though. You have lots of time.
Some good perspective. I do hope that in the future time will be something I have too much of.
“time” itself is an illusion. As for this being your “last opportunity” who says you have to go to college or get a job or do any of that? Buy yourself a set of the Foxfire Books http://tinyurl.com/2syvvg and some camping equipment (not forgetting a good knife…with a knife you can make just about anything else you will ever need in the woods) and start mastering the wood and stone carving and so on. Freedom is yours and you can DO whatever you want with your life…you don’t have to follow anyone else’s schedule.
Interesting book. As much as I would like enjoying such freedoms, I would still like to enjoy modern luxuries like the internet and a game of Halo every so often. All of which would require a college degree.