Was It All Lost?

All the time that's lost,
what's the final cost?
"A Light in the Black" by Blackmore's Rainbow

Buon giorno. Have you ever had the experience of reading or hearing something that made an impression on you several weeks earlier, and then have it continue to come back to you? Sure you have. I'm going to share my latest.

Unfortunately, I do not have the source material. It was a link from a link, one of those things that you chase down. And this thing made me feel better.

This is a bit difficult to set up, so I hope you'll bear with me.

I was remembering (lamenting, in a way) all the time that I have lost on projects and interests that I did not complete. (In fact, I have Soviet Union badges and other memorabilia in storage even now from when I was deeply involved in studying their history. I want to be rid of them. Any takers?) Time spent, and also money spent. My interests changed, and I felt foolish for having spent time and money chasing those interests. After all, I had left things unfinished.

This article pointed out that it is not a waste. We have to try things out, and we usually cannot know right away how long those interests will last. Spending money is a part of that process. And even though the interest has been left behind, there is still the growth process; we learn from our pursuits. The remarks in that article helped me stop beating myself up over what I thought was foolishness and lack of self-discipline.

As it has been said, if you're not growing, you're dying.

At this point in my life, I have become more interested in reducing the clutter in my life (both mental and material), and more concerned with how I spend my time. So this lesson came back to me again very recently, and I took some comfort in it again. I tried it on, it fit for a while, now it doesn't fit (or it is out of style for me). Are these clothing comparisons doing anything for you?

Although I am much more selective now with how I spend financial resources, I am certain that some of those "mistakes" will happen again. Learning is a process, just like growth. It's certainly far better than stagnating because I did not try to learn and do something new.

I am not the man I was twelve years ago. Thank God.