Time

I used to always want time just for myself. I just wanted to spend my time on the laptop or computer after getting home from school & finishing my homework.

I was a loner, in a good way.

When I lived in Utah I was pretty good about getting out and doing something during the day, in addition to homework. And when I came home at night I'd have just enough time for dinner and part of a movie or show. I went to concerts & school events, or I had a night class.

I was always busy, and not with just material things.

When I moved home I was shocked at how much the family relies on the media for entertainment, to just fill the hours of the day.

Even when I started working at my current job, if I didn't have the radio on or a TV station on it was hard for me to clean the houses that I was assigned.

And now, as I'm starting to detox, to do away with my media time, I'm really understanding how it's impacting my life.

Tonight my littlest sister had a concert. I had the choice of whether to go or to stay home. Originally I just wanted to stay home and watch some movies that I rented today. But then I realized how silly that was.

I put the media before my family. The next time I will have the opportunity to go to one of her concerts will be in December 2014; this was the last time I will see my sister in an elementary school concert. By the time I get back she'll be in junior high.

Time really means something to me again.
And I hope that I don't lose sight of that.

The mission will definitely help me keep this new realization of mine, that what you do with the time you currently have is what defines the future.

And I really hope that I don't fall back into my old ways, of sometimes losing sight of what's important because the media seems cooler, after I return from my mission. :]