Meaningful and Productive

I’ve noticed lately that two words keep coming up in my conversation – “meaningful” and “productive.”

“Meaningful” is something I’ve been aware of for a long time, but “productive” is one I’ve not noticed so much.

Both of these are related to time, I think. I’ve always felt that time is short, very limited, and I’d best live fully every day because I don’t have enough days to do all I want to do. That’s not meant to be morbid – I expect to live a good, long time. But there’s so much I feel driven to accomplish that I think there won’t be enough time unless I’m cautious in how I spend it.

We talk about “spending time,” but I think few people realize what it really means. We’re spending it. We can’t ever get it back.

So, because time seems so fleeting to me, I strive to make life meaningful – meaningful interaction and conversation. And by creating meaningful things. That’s where the productivity comes in.

Have I actually created anything meaningful? Well, that remains to be seen and/or is in the eye of the beholder. But, I’m sure being productive is part of the process of working toward that if it hasn’t yet happened. The idea of “paying your dues” is one that’s really true. We have to have enough hours of practice to really get proficient at something.

That could spin off into a long, rambling, questioning series of paragraphs about what I’m proficient at. But, I’m going to spare us both – you from reading, and me from the inevitable conclusion that I’m not yet proficient at much.

So, there you go. All the more reason to be productive… to get proficient… to create something meaningful..