When is the Last Time You’ve Done Something Awesome?

When is the last time you’ve done something awesome? It is a valid question. No, I’m not talking about schoolwork (we do enough of that already, and it isn’t typically awesome). I am talking about something out of your normal routine. Some type of activity that you’ve always wanted to do but just have never found the time to do it. Something to better yourself, or the world around you. Sadly, many of us don’t take the time to do something for ourselves every now and again. Take this article as a call-to-arms to get out there and do something.

It always fascinates me looking at the accomplishments of our friends and colleagues in our university. I always walk away with that feeling of, “Wow! I don’t know how they do it. They’ve done so much!” In reality, although their accomplishments are impressive, their secret is that they have taken the initiative to achieve something, and set time aside to pursue it. This can be anything; participating in a varsity team, working on a personal project, doing research with a professor, undertaking a new sport, or learning a new programming language. All it takes is a bit of dedication and perseverance.

You don’t need an excuse to change it up and do something awesome. One of my favorite charades to watch is other people partake in the infamous New Year’s resolution. There is no reason why you need to restrict yourself to doing something out of the ordinary to just one time of the year. Why not start now? Or start on Monday? There are always spare moments that we waste that we can convert into doing something new, or that we have been putting off.

The worst killer of our time is our obsession with media. A great majority of us spend a lot of time watching television, movies, videos on YouTube, and a lot of other content on the Internet. I do admit I have spent an entire week doing nothing but watching season after season of Mad Men. Compounded with the fact that our mobile devices allow us to consume all of this content whenever we want, you can’t really escape from the convenience of indulging yourself with the drama of fictional characters. I dare you to cut back on the time you spend watching television. You’ll see how much more free time you have. I’m not saying to cut it out entirely, but scale it back to regain some of your precious time.

So what do you want to do? My advice: write yourself a university bucket list. What do you want to accomplish before your years at this university are over? It can be anything: run a marathon, work at a soup kitchen, travel to a foreign city. You are allowed to dream as small or as big as you want. My list included skydiving, writing for a student newspaper, and doing something with student government. The status quo is for the boring. Challenge yourself.

Here’s another tip: Go on a random adventure. They can be impulsive and silly, but they definitely can result in a memorable story. For example, some of my friends and myself hopped in a car and drove to Montreal for a long weekend. Nothing much was going on there, we just didn’t want to stay at home and do what we normally do. We had a lot of fun, and even compromised our integrity a little bit, but the story that resulted was definitely worth it.

Finally, see what is out there! There are so many things you could experience that you start to discover as you mature and grow older. There are so many passions that people around the world have. You have probably never even heard of some of them. Have an open mind, and explore the world around you. You may be surprised at what you find.

Remember it’s the journey that makes life worthwhile, not just the destination. You can’t do everything, but you can certainly try.