I very regularly shake my head at just how incredibly stupid I can be.
I’ve finally — finally! — learned that just because I can do something, that doesn’t mean I should do it or even need to do it.
This revelation is very much a recent one. I’ve really been wanting a new laptop recently. My current laptop is 4 years old and works great. In fact, that’s its major problem. The thing just_won’t_die.
So I ordered a new laptop a couple weeks ago because I could. I got it in and sent it back because it was already starting to act funny. And because I realized that I didn’t really need two fully functioning computers.
This morning I bought a netbook at Best Buy because I had enough money and wanted a more portable computer (my current laptop’s battery sucks). I used it for a few hours and realized, “Man… This is stupid. I don’t need this thing. My computer works just fine.” I’m going to return it tomorrow because I don’t need it.
Yesterday I did some hiking and found some new cliffs that no one has ever climbed before and that I *could* establish new routes on. But should I? The routes might be fun, but they wouldn’t be uber classic. They wouldn’t get climbed very much. I’d get really dehydrated and sunburned putting them up and return home with another story to tell. But who cares? I have so many of those stories already. I have put up so many climbs already.
Yes, there’s always more for me to spend my money on. Yes, there are always more cliffs and mountains to climb. Yes, there are always more websites I could start or products I could create.
And the old me would do all of these things because I could. I had the time and money to do it all. I didn’t do everything that I wanted to do, I did everything that I could do.
But the new me says… Screw it.
My laptop works just fine. I don’t want to suffer in the sweltering sun just so I can say I’ve done the first ascent of another stupid rock climb. And I want to spend my time on those projects that I really enjoy and that will bring the most benefit to me and others.
Goodbye, aimlessly productive Tristan. Hullo! selectively productive Tristan!