At some point in everyone’s life, we all go through a situation that makes us question what we are doing. And sometimes a very familiar phrase will cross our minds, “This is such a waste of my time.”
Over the years, I have found myself saying that all too often, whether it be an Algebra class in high school or a new, artistic endeavor. See, that was one of my biggest fears not too long ago. I had a principal in middle school who once said to me, “I don’t mind wasting money, that’s something I can get back. But my time? I can’t get that back.”
And this stuck with me and any new choice I made in my life; I had his words echoing in my memory. Which, honestly made me steer clear of anything that I thought wouldn’t serve me a purpose.
But this past month has greatly changed my perception of wasting time.
As I’ve probably mentioned in the past, I LOVE doing family research for my family and for others. I’ve been doing it for about as long as I’ve been writing and through those years, there are still unanswered questions that I have. Sometimes I find different methods to further my “investigation” and sometimes my theories lead to a dead end and I have to wait for another theory to emerge. But, is each method a waste of my time? Absolutely not, because not only do I find more ways of utilizing the different DNA websites out there, but the stories I learn about my ancestors give me inspiration for the characters that I write. It gives them more life.
So, I want to encourage you to change your way of thinking this coming month. If you’re in a situation that you think is a “waste” of your time, ask yourself—how can you apply the situation to your career or passion? Because, if you can learn from something, then, it’s not really a waste of time!