1. Unplugging my wireless router to see how terrible life will be if I get internet turned off entirely. I'm tired of my hands being tied by a company like Charter.
2. Attempt what is sometimes called the 'Reverse 100 Thing Challenge'. Basically, I will be challenged to get rid of 100 Things. I think this will be a good start to see how prepared I am for the actual 100 Things Challenge. If it's terribly easy, I'll probably not stop at 100.
Why do these challenges appeal to me, you may be asking?
I've had a lot of realizations about life recently. I've lived with all these ideas of what I thought life should be and what it owed me. And I sat around wondering when my movie plot romance, large happy family, and dream job were going to come my way. Here I am in L.A. pursuing my dream of working in film, but only recently have I stopped to ask myself if it's actually making me happy. And I'm finding the answer to be, pretty much, "no".
I've also lived my entire life trying to make my life an example to the children I hope to have one day. I wanted to be someone who would make them proud by the way I lived my life and the career I had. Funny, isn't it? Living your life for people who may never even exist? But the more I think about it, the more I realize that trying to impress my unborn future hypothetical children by being a movie star is silly and empty.
Growing up in a religious environment, I always heard it said that you should give your life over to God and He will lead you where you are supposed to go.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your
heart, And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways
acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.
"The Buddha gave us an example of contentment and tolerance, through serving others unselfishly." -Dalai Lama
Even if you aren't religious, I think there is something to the idea of living to make yourself happy and never achieving it versus living to to help others and finding joy on accident. Since I was young, I've always felt pulled towards mission and international relief work. And with all this new discussion and brainstorming on living abroad I've had lately, I started seriously looking into it. And I realized that even if it doesn't get me abroad, or to the countries I would most like to inhabit, I truly do feel called to service.
So I signed up to be a volunteer at my local Red Cross branch the other day! And I've been researching other companies that I may be able to work through. It made me think of another life challenge that would be good to strive for. "30 years selfish, 30 years selfless." I've lived 30 years thinking mostly of myself and wouldn't it be an amazing thing if I could find the strength to live the next 30 years for others?
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