Friday, April 26, 2013

Learning and Wasting and Important Things

It is pleasant to see dreams come true, but fools refuse to turn from evil to attain them.
  Proverbs 13:19

Disclaimer: I'm not saying that entertainment is evil.  Proceed. lol (:

I think that one reason why there are so many people out there not knowing what to do with their lives is because they never began or pursued any dreams when they were younger.  They were too busy texting (which I admit isn't evil), talking with their friends, hanging out with friends (which is not necessarily bad just depends on the friends), stuck doing school, watching movies, tv, tv shows, playing Facebook games (not that facebook games are altogether evil), eating and sleeping!  There's almost TOO much entertainment out there these days.  In fact, there are enough movies and video games to keep us occupied every hour of every day for the rest of our lives!  It's what one book or movie (can't remember which) calls being "entertained to death".
It's what we do for a living as teens and children.  It's like we live to be entertained by everything and if it doesn't entertain us, we go elsewhere.  But we forget to DO something worth the time, even little things like making crafts or baking.
When we grow up we don't realize till it's too late that we'll have to work and we won't know what we want to do.  I think that's one reason why chores are important for us when we're young.  Even though they're minor things, they give us something we know how to do when we're older that we can still do.
Life isn't about being entertained.  It's about living for God, following dreams, being a light.
Basically, we shouldn't be wasting our early years just to waste our later years trying to figure out who we are so that we can figure out what to do with our lives.  A bit of entertainment is okay but it's not essential for our living.
I read a comment on a Youtube video of someone playing the harp and it said "Why are you so talented?"
But anyone can play the harp if they learned and practiced.  Anyone could play the piano if they only listened and learned (but it's hard because it "gets boring" because you have to work at it...).
This generation, not many young people WANT to learn.  They associate learning with boring because public secular schools have made learning boring (and sometimes they don't even learn anything).  I love my homeschool co-op even though we're made to do a lot of work because we actually learn and my teacher loves what she's teaching which makes it all the more interesting!  We don't just read a book and learn the vocabulary from it.  We dig deep into the messages that the author is trying to tell us.  We learn about symbolism and different worldviews.  We don't just learn History.  We make timelines (cut out pictures that have information and the year beneath them and we put them in a book like a scrapbook). 
Learning is only important if what you're learning IS important!  And so we make it important and then it gets interesting.
Growing closer to God by reading His Word and thinking about it daily is important for us.  The book of Proverbs was specifically written for teens and I think everyone should read it and heed it!  I wish more people knew this.  It's sad that most of America claims to be Christian but the statistics make it doubtful.
What else do you think is important for us teens to do in our younger years?

2 comments:

  1. I COMPLETELY ONE HUNDRED PERCENT AGREE!!!!!
    Have you ever read Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris? They talk a lot about this stuff too. Ever since reading that when I was 14, I've taken my studies seriously (well, mostly). I love to learn (except math -.-) and know what I'm going to do with my life.
    It is a bit easily for Christians, in my opinion, to know what they want to do with their lives. Everyone has been talented by God and if we take that gift and use it for Him, we have our future all set for us! Plus, some people get special callings to be missionaries or pastors or Christian music artists.... And on top of it all we're called to go to the ends of the earth and make deciples of all men. And we're called to do everything for the glory of God. Even if someone is a bit hazy on what their gift might be, those are two callings (that everyone has been called to) that any Christian can do.
    I think that's pretty cool. It gives such a meaning to my life. And not because it helps to get me into heaven... But because it glorifies my creator and I'm happy to make him happy.
    On my blog I talk quite a bit about different forms of entertainment... Shucks, last night I spent hours watching interviews with The Hobbit cast and the Tintin cast. Did it fulfil my life? No. Do I regret it? Yes. I should have been writing, and knew it. I have to work really hard not to let entertainment take over my life... Because really, what an empty life that is. I look at the girls who (seemingly) spend all their time watching, thinking about, and theorizing about Doctor Who.... In ten years will it even matter? They can't have the job 'Doctor Who expert' when they grow up. It's just so empty... I don't want to be a fangirl like them. I want something more. And I have it.
    Anyway, great post. It has kind of gotton me back on track a little. Now I'm off to write 1,000 words!

    P.S. Here's the question that I've been silently mulling over the past few weeks... Are books entertainment? Do they leave you with the same empty feeling that watching stupid videos on youtube all night does? Sure, dark romances will, but what about classics? What makes classics better than those dark romances? And is it better to fill up all those TV/movie/youtube video watching times with good books?
    I think that the simple answer (which I actually just came to) is that if anything is being put before God, it needs to either go or have less time spent on it.

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  2. I'll make a blog post instead of a very long comment back lol :)
    Great thoughts!

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