Sometime last week I posted a C.S. Lewis quote on my Facebook wall that I felt was an accurate assessment of my life this semester. The quote is from his book The Screw Tape Letters, and is a reflection from a man with a wasted life: "I now see that I spent most of my life in doing neither what I ought nor what I liked."
For me, these events include (but are not limited to): sitting on Facebook, browsing random web pages, watching youtube videos, and playing games on my phone/iPod. These kinds of activities are the ones that will make me fall into my life's greatest fear: complacency.
The interesting thing is that I did nothing to make any change to my life, even after realizing I was spending so much time doing "neither what I ought nor what I like." I think that it took the inspiration of a friend who was excited about something. A friend of mine who works with me at the Fish House (coffee shop) has gotten extremely excited about making Latte art. His excitement was contagious, and I found myself excited about it too.
They call this "inspiration"
From that spark of excitement, I was no longer just going to work and serve coffee, but I began "working on my Latte art." I was (and am) working to offer a better service to people, and to improve myself. This little idea took flame into my entire life: it rejuvenated my practice time; it made me decide to get my hair cut; it made me excited about the idea of doing things in my life at a higher quality; it made me realize that I could be a better me.
It seems to me that we are either improving ourselves, or we are falling into complacency. Where can you work to improve yourself today? How can you work to make your immediate world a more beautiful place? What can you do to make the people you see today smile? Who can you inspire today?
Be the best you you can today.
-Ben
