The Importance Of Valuing Your Time To Yourself.

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There is a saying that most of us have probably heard at some point in our lives. It is also a statement that can be found in the good book. The saying that I'm referring to goes; "Man isn't meant to be alone." Now there are various contexts in which this statement can be viewed. For the most part, I believe that most people associate this statement with the idea of marriage and a a union between a man and a woman. Though this may be the way in which this statement was intended to be, there are also those that may view it from the perspective of general companionship. When we talk about general companionship, we're referring to not only a partnership with someone that we're in love with, we're also talking about having a healthy social circle as well. This means that we have a a friend or friends that we can count on to be there for us, or we have a strong relationship with our family members. There can be a mixture of all of these examples in our lives that help us to never truly feel alone in this world. Now the following statement that I'm about to make totally comes from my own personal perspective, so I'm not saying that this is the be all or that this applies to everyone. However, I have noticed that this world that we're living in strongly pushes the idea of never being alone. There has become this belief that if a person is consistently by themselves, then something must be wrong with them. It's like in order to be accepted by this world, people feel that they have to always be around other people constantly. While I am a firm believer that it is wise to try and keep a healthy balance of being around others and being off to yourself, I have found that there can be many benefits to having alone time to ourselves. As I have mentioned already, I don't feel this is the case with much of our society. Because time is so valuable and never promised to us, it is important to value your time to yourself.

Check 1-2, check 1-2! Hey what's going on everyone? It is Brad H. coming at you all once again, and I'd like to welcome you all to another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! Here at Brad H.'s Perspective, I try to provide some wisdom and inspiration that will hopefully be beneficial to us all in our everyday lives. I hope that everything has been going well for you all since the last topic, and if that hasn't been the case for some of you out there, I am hopeful that things will continue to improve in your lives. There wasn't anything happening that I felt noteworthy of using my soapbox to talk about before getting into this week's topic, so I wanted to share a recent family experience that I had. Now I'm sure that many of you probably do what I'm about to say pretty frequently, but there is a point that I'm hoping to make with this. So earlier this week, I watched a documentary movie with two of my close family members. The beautiful thing about this was that it reminded me a lot of past times when people could watch movies together and not be distracted by technology. It made me think back to when people could go out and eat dinner with family and friends and not be looking down at their phones every 2 minutes. We live in a world that is technology driven, and there are a lot of good things that come with technology. However, many of us have become zombies to our phones and electronic devices. Some of us would rather stay in on the computer rather than going to spend time with other people. Some of us can't enjoy a television show or movie because we're always looking at our phones. I just want to encourage people to remember that it is okay to turn off your phone for awhile. It's okay to step away from your computer or laptop for awhile. These devices aren't going anywhere, but special moments with the people you care about are going to be limited. The experience that I brought up, though it may be fairly simple was one that I'm going to remember as one of the best days of this year, and I'm truly grateful for it. Alright, now that I've gotten that out of the way, it is time to get into this week's topic of the importance of valuing your time to yourself.

Before we dive more into the topic at hand for the week, I'd like to go ahead and give the normal disclaimer that I give before all of the segments that I cover. I always try and hammer down the point that because we're all different and unique within our own right, we all have different ways of viewing things. The goal with these topics is to hopefully provide some inspiration and insight that will not only help to keep us moving forward, but also to encourage some critical thinking. I believe that an experience that gives us an opportunity to learn something new or see something in a manner in which we may not have before isn't a wasted experience. Of course I don't expect everyone to agree with me on this topic, and that is totally fine. I'm not here to try and force my beliefs on anyone else. I just want to share some of my ideas and thought processes. Any and all feedback whether it may be good or bad is welcomed here. As for how I arrived at the topic of the importance of valuing your alone time, I would just attribute it to something that I've been thinking about a lot recently. I can't speak for anyone else but me, but I find now that I'm getting older that I tend to prefer being off to myself a lot. Now I'm not trying to imply that I'm antisocial, or that I don't like being around people anymore. No, this isn't the case at all. I just feel that spending some time off to yourself on a daily can be a good thing for some of the reasons that I'm going to point out. As I alluded to earlier, many people in this world seem to only feel complete when they're around others. In a world where validation from others is what most people are seeking, most people will go to all kinds of lengths to appease to this world. One of the hopes that I have with writing on these topics is the idea of thinking outside of the box. Now everyone's circumstances are different, so I understand if many people just aren't able to spend quality time alone. However, for people that may not totally grasp this concept of alone time, I hope that I'm able to point out some things that can help encourage people look for more ways that will allow you to do so.

Now I'm sure that many of you have heard of the saying, "Alone but never lonely." This is another one of those phrases that I've heard quite a bit throughout my life also. What exactly does it mean when a person says that they're alone, but never lonely? As with the majority of statements and phrases that we often hear mentioned on a frequently basis, I think there is a multitude of meanings and contexts in which a person can mean when they say this. I personally feel that it is one of those phrases that people use to describe themselves when they feel that people don't quite understand or get them. I kind of liken it to another phrase that we've heard; "In a room full of people, but feel alone." I see it as a situation where you know that you have people that care for you and are there for you, but you often feel misunderstood, which in turns makes you feel alone. Now again, there isn't a single context in which to view this, but this is how I personally see it. I bring all of this up to aid in showing that although a person may have people in their life, it is also possible to feel alone at times. To be fair also, I think that most of us if we're being honest feel alone at times. I think that is one of those natural feelings that we all have occasionally. The thing to keep in mind is that there is a difference between feeling alone sometimes, and constantly feeling alone. Just like I mentioned earlier, a healthy balance of most things is the key. Of course nobody wants to feel alone, but as the theme of this topic suggests, being alone at times can have its benefits.

So why do I feel it is of importance to value the time we have to ourselves? I think that one of the biggest reasons why I feel this is important is due to the fact that it helps in teaching us to be comfortable within our own skin. It is a known fact that some of us aren't always our true selves when we get around certain people. We sometimes do and say things that we normally wouldn't do or say because of who we're around. I believe that when a person learns how to be comfortable with being alone, they develop a certain kind of strength that helps keep them grounded. Because a person that exhibits this kind of behavior knows who they truly are, they are not likely to get too far away from themselves even when they're around others. The same mindset applies when it comes to our society that pushes the idea that we shouldn't never be alone. A person that is comfortable within their own skin likely doesn't care too much about what other people say or think of them. Another benefit that I feel comes along with valuing your alone time deals with not having to deal with a lot of drama and gossip. If we're being real here, most of us have gossiped and talked about others. However, there are some of us that also don't like participating in these acts as we mature. Keeping away from people that do these kinds of things is good for your mind. Not speaking for anyone else, but I find that my mind and spirit feels much more clear and at ease when I'm not around people that do these things. Before moving on the next and what I consider the be the most important thing about valuing your time alone, I want to reiterate that I'm not suggesting that we should just avoid people. Again, I'm trying to show that there can be benefits to being alone sometimes.

Finally, I feel that valuing your alone time helps you to learn about yourself. Now I'm not saying that I'm right about what I'm about to say. This is just a personal theory that I have. I think that one of the reasons why so many of us only feel complete when we're with or around others deals with not truly knowing ourselves. Too much of who we feel that we are is tied to other people, which in turn makes us constantly gravitate to others. Ever seen someone that goes from relationship to relationship, and they are rarely if ever by themselves? In my opinion, that is a behavior of someone that has tied too much of who they believe they are to others. From my perspective, someone that often spends time alone learns about the kind of person they are and who they want to be. Furthermore, you discover things about yourself that you may not have even known before. For example, you may find that you discover new hobbies and ventures that you probably never even considered before. You can engulf yourself in these new passions, and you'll find that you don't always need people around you to feel happy. I believe that self-discovery is how we make ourselves better for this world and others. If you know who you truly are and what strengths and weaknesses that you have, it enables you to be the best person that you can be for others. I personally see this as something that many of us are missing out on, which is why I want to encourage everyone through this topic to see that being alone isn't always a bad thing. I would suggest that everyone that is able to do so, try and spend at least 10 to 20 minutes a day of reflection on yourself if you aren't accustomed to doing so. You don't have to cut people off or isolate yourself, but I guarantee that you'll discover things about yourself that you may not have known.

Alright everyone, I think that'll bout do it for this topic. I hope that those of you that read this was able to get some understanding from it. I also hope that it served as some inspiration. This is Brad H., and this has once again been another installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! As always, thank you all once again for stopping by. I can't say enough how grateful I am to know that there are people out there that are interested in what I have to say. If anyone has any feedback or comments, please feel free to drop those below. You can also hit me up on Twitter @BradrickH if you'd like. There has been a lot of rain here in Texas the last few days, and now the temps are heating up. Despite that, it is still a nice day outside to enjoy. I hope you all have a great weekend, and an even better week ahead. I'll see you all in the next one. Till then, take care of yourselves and keep on keeping on. Peace!

©2018 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.

The Importance Of Viewing Your Life In Stages As If It Were Fruit (Watering The Seeds Of Your Life).

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Everyone is familiar with the idea that a tree doesn't sprout in one day. When a tree has been planted, it often takes many years for that tree to grow into what its full potential is. The same way of thinking also applies to fruits and vegetables. When the seed of whatever fruit or vegetable that a person is wanting to see grow has been planted, it takes consistent watering and care for it to sprout and grow. As with nearly every aspect of life, we as people along with animals and plants and many other organisms all go through stages that are meant to inspire growth. We as human-beings sound probably identify with this even more so due to the fact that our journey towards being here in this world required a seed to be planted. Furthermore, most of us can attest to the fact that in order for us to get to whatever stages that we are in life today required nurturing and care from our parents and loved ones. Beyond the more obvious aspects of this topic that deals with the nurturing and care that was required for us to be who we are now, many of us forget that the same way that our bodies develop in stages, our livelihoods also unfold in stages as well. There could be a multitude of reasons for why so many of us forget this, however, I think the most common reasoning for this deals with the fact that so many of us compare our lives to those of our peers. Does this sound familiar to anyone out there? Just like almost every aspect of life happens in stages, we have to remember to see our own person growth in this manner. We have to begin to look at the mental growth our lives as if it were similar to fruit when it comes to growing properly, and the best way for that fruit of our lives to grow in the manner that it should means that we have to constantly nurture and water it.

What's good everyone? This is your main man Brad H. back at it once again, and I'd like to welcome everyone to another topic of discussion with 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! We are back for another week to hopefully dish out some wisdom and inspiration. I hope that all has been going well for everyone since the last topic. Well for my soapbox this week, I'm going to go ahead and give my thoughts on the conclusion of the NBA Finals. Boy did we have a quick NBA Finals this year. The Golden State Warriors pulled off the sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers last night. I think that most people that follow basketball pretty much didn't expect the Cavaliers to win the series. However, I think that the sweep happening could have been a surprise for some. I know I expected the Cavaliers to win at least one game at home. I think this year's finals were pretty uneventful in my opinion. Not to take anything away from the Warriors being the champs once again, but the Cavaliers were just outmatched. I know that LeBron James done all that he could, and he deserves credit for how well he played throughout the playoffs. It is just hard to beat a team like the Warriors that have so many guys that can pick up the slack when one of their players is off. I mean Stephen Curry had a terrible game 3, but you got a guy like Kevin Durant that can put up 43 points. I think it says a lot when Curry has an off night and the Warriors are still able to win. Now that the NBA has concluded, we can look forward to the free agency months this summer. I think this is going to be one of the more interesting summers for free agency that we've had in recent years. Everyone wants to know where LeBron is going to play next. What are the Celtics going to do with so many of their younger players performing beyond their years this season? What is going to happen with my San Antonio Spurs and Kawhi Leonard? Where does Paul George end up playing? These are just a few of many questions that we will hopefully have answers to in the next few months. Alright, I think it is time to go ahead and transition into this week's topic of viewing our lives in stages.

Now that I've gotten on my soapbox and talked about something besides the topic at hand for a bit, it's time for me to go ahead and give the usual disclaimer that I give before addressing any topic I discuss. We all have different ways of viewing and thinking about things. The point of what I'm aiming to do here isn't to focus on what is considered to be right or wrong, but rather to hopefully provide some insight and inspiration. I often encourage myself and others to be open to the idea of thinking of things in ways they may not have before. If reading any of the topics that I talk about has helped someone to be able to do that, then I would consider that to be a good thing. Again, I want to stress that I'm not here to force my beliefs on anyone else. I also don't expect everyone to share in some of my ideas. Whatever you believe or think is okay with me, and even if you happen to disagree with me on this topic or any of the others, I still appreciate the people that are interested in what I have to say. As for how this topic came to be for this week, I would attribute some of it to a video I watched on Youtube a few nights ago. I was listening to a guy talking about the topic of bad habits that we as people often exhibit. At some point during the lecture he was giving, he talked about the human body, and how our bodies are like fruit that grows in stages. This really stood out to me, and I thought to myself if there was a way that I could use that comparison to show that the same logic applies when it comes to our livelihoods. I pondered on it for awhile, and I felt like it was something I could pull off. The reason why I want to use this comparison is due to the fact that so many of us lack patience when it comes to wanting to achieve things in this life. This is something that I have frequently talked about on here, and I'm hoping this this will just be another way for us to use something that most of us can already relate to. I can't promise that everything that I'm going to address will make a lot of sense for everyone, but I will do my best to hopefully get my point across.

Now I think that we can all agree that it is rare that we find that we're in a situation where we're able to do something that may be new to us without having to learn how to do it first. When we first start learning how to ride a bike when we're kids, we don't just hop on the bike and start riding without falling. It is a process of continuing to get up after we fall, which in turn is how we learn how to ride the bike. In relation to the fruit analogy that is the theme that this week's topic is centered around, you can think of getting back on the bike after falling time and time again is similar to watering the fruit that we're trying to grow. Again, this is all a process of steps from the early stages of first getting on the bike, to being good at riding the bike. Now how does this example relate to our lives some of you may wonder? Well from my perspective, and as I mentioned earlier, nearly every aspect of life has stages. However, we must be mindful that while this applies to our lives, the stages at which the fruit grows in a person's life varies. In other words, if life were a race, everyone moves at a pace that fits their personal situation. But with that being said, I believe that though we all move through this life differently, the seeds of our lives still need to be watered in order for us to reach a higher level. I believe that one of the biggest mistakes that so many of us make in life is that we're so eager to get to certain stages of life that we end up skipping steps along the way. Now going back to the fruit analogy, do you really think that a particular fruit will be healthy enough to eat if it isn't grown and watered properly? No, it won't be, and it will likely just wither away. As much as I hate saying what I'm about to say, this is how so many of our lives end up being. A lack of proper growth and nurturing often leads to decline and decay.

When we're talking about a lack of proper growth and nurturing when it comes to our lives, I'm referring to not being able to live the best quality of life that we're able to. From my perspective, the only way to truly live the best version of life is being able to water our life seeds in stages. This perspective not only applies to the physical, it is also the mental and spiritual aspect as well. When dealing with a topic of this nature, I also want you to consider the livelihood aspect of it. As I mentioned earlier, we often compare our lives to our peers. If our peers are doing something or accomplishing things, many of us assume that we need to be doing those things as well. I don't think that most people go in with the intention of thinking this way, but I think it is just in our nature to compare ourselves to others. Now if we're all individuals and have different ways of thinking, wouldn't it also make sense that we have should have different ways of living as well. The stages of your life happen specifically for you and no one else. Everyone has to go through stages in life, but it is the individuality that makes everyone's journeys different. Instead of giving a lot of time and attention to what is happening in whatever stages someone else is in within their life's journey, it is more important to focus on watering your own life seeds to get to where you want to be. I know this isn't an easy concept to endorse, because the truth is that while most people like seeing others get ahead, they may not necessarily want to see people get that far ahead of them. The reality of life that is some people's flowers bloom faster than others when it comes to life, just like some people's life fruit grows more healthier than others. Again, the important thing is to focus on better yourself so you can water your seeds better.

Now that we've talked about the importance of viewing our lives in stages and watering the seeds of our lives, we have to ask ourselves; "How do I water my seeds?" I believe the best way to properly water the seeds of your life to become a better individual ties in directly with self-improvement. I believe that in order to grow our life seeds means taking steps and actions to improve ourselves. This means reading books that deals with growing as a person. It also means getting rid of bad habits and people that are holding us back. I believe it means immersing ourselves in positive habits that will encourage us to do and be better. At the end of the day, no one else can tell you what you should or shouldn't do to water your life seeds. Only you truly know what is and isn't good for you. Everything that I've mentioned so far is only suggestions, but it is up to you in the end. So I'll get ready to bring this to a close by reminding everyone to try and be mindful of these things. As hard as it may be at times, try not to compare your situation to that of others. That only adds stress and can create depression in our lives, and I don't think we can grow as people if we're depressed constantly. Secondly, start looking at your life in stages. Treat everything in your life as a stepping stone to get to something that is hopefully better. Finally, continue to focus on self-improvement, and think of that as watering seeds to grow. A gardener doesn't plant seeds and just leave them to rot off and die. They constantly water those seeds and give them time and attention to help them grow. Lets try to do the same for our lives, and hopefully we'll see ourselves grow exponentially.

Well that is all for this week folks. I hope that I was able to make some sense with all of this, and I also hope that some if not all of you found some kind of value in it. I am Brad H., and this has once again been another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! I always appreciate those of you that came by. If anyone has any comments or feedback, please feel free to leave any and all of that below. You can also find me on Twitter @BradrickH if you want to add anything else. I hope everyone is having a great weekend so far, and I hope you all have an even better week ahead. A lot of of hot temperatures happening around the globe, so don't forget to stay cool and hydrated if you're going to be outdoors. Stay safe out there everyone, and I hope to see you all in the next one. Peace!

©2018 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.