Life Tip – Just Do Stuff
This life tip from Uncle Chris is mostly brought to you by Uncle Chris’s dad. That’s right, a good deal of my wisdom may turn out to be inherited. then again, your own favorite probably got most of his own good traits from other family members as well.
So, this is tip is “Just Do Stuff.” That sounds kind of vague… What I really mean is, go out and do things.
Hmmm… Still not very precisely put.
Life is not built for the living room of your home or apartment. Sure you can see things on the web and the TV is great, but the things that you really remember and things most likely to make you happy are outside your door. This is especially important if you’re going through a hard time, depression, or really anything that is uncomfortable and isn’t highly contagious – that’s right plague carriers, your fulfilling life activities are indeed in your own home.
I tend to be the kind of person who likes to retreat into my cave. You can imagine that this was/is an important lesson for me. Getting up and going out has always been a good idea for me. You can have a goal, or just wander about for a couple of hours. But Uncle Chris would never be so cold as to leave you without example of how going out and doing things is a good idea.
For one thing, you get great chances to take pictures of yourself in reflective objects. Because really, nothing is sexier than capturing a picture of yourself pondering the picture you are about to take of yourself in a view screen.
Or better yet, you get the chance to take an artistic photo that people like while wandering around and checking out cherry blossoms near where you live. The particular shot above was at a very small temple that was a 5-10 minute walk from my apartment in Japan.
I got both those pictures by following good advice to get up, get out, and live my life.
I KNOW what you mean! Ugh…life is OUT there…living life is going out THERE. Bad thing is, too many responsibilities…too many bills to pay, mortgage to stress over…I feel I will be hearing from my dad about not splurging my money…
But I want so bad just to get out and travel on my own…breathe for awhile…be stress free even for just a week or two. =.(
Lucky you…
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Chris Schaffer Reply:
October 14th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Even if you can’t get out of the country, I do completely recommend just making personal time to travel nearby. Once we get used to our local area it can be easy to stop exploring.
Also, make sure to carefully check out travel to a variety of places and look for others who have traveled there, often it can be much cheaper than expected.
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Advice duly noted — just give me five more minutes to check my Facebook! LOL =P
Seriously though, I fully agree with you. The things that truly make you happy are *out* there — friends, sunsets, conversations, daily randomness… this is important to remember, especially when stuck in a rut.
By the way, I’m loving that cherry blossom picture. Beautiful =)
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Chris Schaffer Reply:
October 14th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
Ha! I am sadly very in tune with the “just five more minutes of Facebook” or whatever other thing has caught me on the web that day.
Also, thank you for your words about the picture!
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Ok, if I lived in Japan I’d be everywhere walking! I want to go to Japan and you get to live there!
I live in the smallest town ever, which I’m the minority being Hispanic and all. And without a car theres no point to leaving since there’s nothing to do. x[
Otherwise though, great advice. xD
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Chris Schaffer Reply:
October 14th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
It was an interesting ride being out there. Both the best and absolute hardest time of my life, but if you get the chance I always vote for travel and living abroad.
I’ve lived primarily in small towns, maybe not as tiny as where you live, but I understand a little bit of that. Just remember though, no matter how small the place you is there are thins there that will amaze other people. My own “home town” (at least the place I consider home most) has a “Mike the Headless Chicken Day”. Yeah, there’s even a statue, people think we have issues.
That and you are right, transportation can be key to being able to really get out and do stuff, but make sure not skip out on seeing everything you can within walking distance.
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You’re absolutely right. It’s always best to get the hell out of the house and see the world - even if it’s just a trip around the block, you never know what you might see: two dogs shagging, maybe someone being mugged or some knife crime. Life is good!
Nice blog btw, discovered via stumbleupon.
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