So many of us judge the worthiness of our activities based on the nature of the activity itself rather than the intention/opportunity for growth behind it. We decide that we want to study jewelry making, folk guitar, pottery, balloon-twisting, baking, or anything else. Soon after, we ask “What’s the purpose of doing that?” “Aren’t I silly for wanting to spend my time with something so juvenile, useless, wasteful. Imagine doing something just because I want to! What’s that going to do for me?” When we talk to ourself like this, we put out our flame, our very life force. We are constantly categorizing our actions into worthwhile and not worthwhile categories. The determining feature of a worthwhile activity is usually if it will earn money or make us famous or lead to something or somewhere we deem as important. What we fail to acknowledge however, is that which an activity will offer us spiritually or the opportunity it will provide for us to grow. These elements should be the determining factors for whether an activity is worth our time. New activities force us to stretch, to live in the uncomfortableness of not knowing something (and still keep going), to push our edges, to focus, to learn, to be a beginner, to challenge our ego, to experience the small steps of starting from the beginning, and endless other wonderful skills. Is our growth of value? Is our spiritual nourishment of value? Is something that brings us enJOYment of value? Our organic drive to evolve, stretch, push ourselves, learn, re-awaken our curiosity, and all the rest of the best of us, these are what determine the worthiness of our activities. Our experience, our growth, our joy, in short, WE must always be what matters and not the contents of what we do.
