[Design_Me_A_Tom]

Today I thought about something (I know, it doesn't happen often), I am wasting my life on Xbox Live, the internet, procrastinating etc. and wasting alot of time. I have wasted so much of my life so far and can only see myself continuing to do so.

We only have a limited time on this Earth, and I am throwing away days as if I had an infinite number of them. I believe we only live once, with no afterlife. Does anybody else feel as if they are wasting their life away? And what tips or inspiration can you share to help me and others in the same situation out.

[murpo]

go jump out of a plane or something then?

[T-Toe]

I won't know when I'm dead so I won't be affected by my death. I do think about death a lot nonetheless.

[MMoor18]

I'm immortal until proven otherwise so it's fine

[bytail]

Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

[.Scout.]

Live every day as if it was your last... but pay your taxes and use a condom in case it isn't

Jokes aside, I do try and make the most of life. It's cliché but life is short so you've got to make the most of it. Why stay at home and play xbox all day when there is so many things to do and explore? Don't let life pass you by.

[Design_Me_A_Tom]

(Original post by bytail)
Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

This is not necessarily true, in 5 years time I will not look back on my life and think about the facebook statuses I posted, or my highscores on video games.

[bytail]

(Original post by Design_Me_A_Tom)
This is not necessarily true, in 5 years time I will not look back on my life and think about the facebook statuses I posted, or my highscores on video games.

The question is, do you want to do other things because you genuinely want to do them, or do you just feel like you should? By all means, get out there and do things if you have the time, energy, inclination and money

[jumpingjesusholycow]

(Original post by Design_Me_A_Tom)
Does anybody else feel as if they are wasting their life away? And what tips or inspiration can you share to help me and others in the same situation out.

Learn to find happiness where you can.

Most people suffer from the 'grass is greener on the other side' syndrome. That's not to say you can't extract more from life, just that you'll most likely live in a constant state of dissatisfaction telling yourself 'oh if I do X then I'll be happy and content'. Find happiness where you can and if you see an opportunity to extract more from life, then take it. You don't need to throw down your Xbox controller and stand atop the highest peak to be happy. Just do what makes you feel good (so long as it doesn't hurt others).

[419]

been feeling like this all my life. yet i do nothing about it.

FML

[T-Toe]

(Original post by MMoor18)
I'm immortal until proven otherwise so it's fine

Mortal

[starkrush]

I think you're right in that we do, effectively, live life as if we will forever in some way. But I think you're missing a stage in between. We do this because we (often/in your examples) make our decisions on an entirely short-term basis. We do the things which result in the greatest short-term happiness, over more productive long-term ones. If we did live forever, then you could say we'd do infinitely many short-term decisions.

But you could also argue doing productive things, e.g. learning a language, over an infinitely long period of time (forever) would provide even greater scope for happiness in the long-term. To be honest if we lived for longer our short-term decision making would have less direct consequence (regret, since we can always do it later), but would ultimately have a greater effect on happiness (not using our longer lives to do the most happy things).

I don't know if any of that will make sense, but it does in my head.

[SnoochToTheBooch]

I agree, videogames are ****ing depressing. I bought a ps3 a few months back and it's just gathering dust now as I can't be on it for more than about 15 minutes before I get this overwhelming sense of pointlessness.

[ROYP]

(Original post by Design_Me_A_Tom)
Today I thought about something (I know, it doesn't happen often), I am wasting my life on Xbox Live, the internet, procrastinating etc. and wasting alot of time. I have wasted so much of my life so far and can only see myself continuing to do so.

We only have a limited time on this Earth, and I am throwing away days as if I had an infinite number of them. I believe we only live once, with no afterlife. Does anybody else feel as if they are wasting their life away? And what tips or inspiration can you share to help me and others in the same situation out.

I know exactly what you mean. People are out and about doing real life ****, have stories to tell etc and I just waste time. 'wasting time' gets thrown around but I literally am wasting time. Doing absolutely nothing with it.

You can con yourself while on the internet into thinking you're not wasting time, but imagine if you were having an out-of-body experience and just look at yourself sitting staring at a little screen for hours...

[thecrimsonidol]

Get a job or something.

[T-Toe]

(Original post by Design_Me_A_Tom)
This is not necessarily true, in 5 years time I will not look back on my life and think about the facebook statuses I posted, or my highscores on video games.

Do you detest the fact that your enjoyment isn't productive, or at least productive enough to progress in the real world?

You may not enjoy being productive but you will enjoy the benefits.

[K the Failure]

(Original post by MMoor18)
I'm immortal until proven otherwise so it's fine

There is overwhelming evidence that humans die.

Is there something wrong with my logic?

[Arekkusu]

I feel like that all the time, it means you're getting old, as far as I can tell.

However I will say one caveat: games are somewhat demonised. Today, more so than in years past, I think, they are one of the cornerstones of modern culture. You might not be so ready to characterise watching films or reading books (traditional "cultural engagement") as wasted time.

[Design_Me_A_Tom]

(Original post by starkrush)
I think you're right in that we do, effectively, live life as if we will forever in some way. But I think you're missing a stage in between. We do this because we (often/in your examples) make our decisions on an entirely short-term basis. We do the things which result in the greatest short-term happiness, over more productive long-term ones. If we did live forever, then you could say we'd do infinitely many short-term decisions.

But you could also argue doing productive things, e.g. learning a language, over an infinitely long period of time (forever) would provide even greater scope for happiness in the long-term. To be honest if we lived for longer our short-term decision making would have less direct consequence (regret, since we can always do it later), but would ultimately have a greater effect on happiness (not using our longer lives to do the most happy things).

I don't know if any of that will make sense, but it does in my head.

I think I get what your saying; we want instant gratification, so make short term decisions like deciding to play the Xbox, whereas we should make decisions which will give us hapiness in the long term.

[Redolent]

The average person spends 4 hours a day just watching tv. I still can't believe people could be happy with such an existence.

But the truth is, right now I'm not doing much better, I just use the computer instead. It's partially my fault, I could definitely do more productive things with my time, but in another way modern Britain really isn't a place for adventure. We get our adventures through films, books, video games and other forms of escapism. It's sad. But there aren't many other options unfortunately.

Just keep your eyes open and take opportunities when they come your way. I don't buy into this idea that there's adventure and fun waiting around the corner and you just got to get up and take it, but stay open minded, be proactive and things could pick up.