“Dangers Posed To Our Most Valuable Asset” Kingston’s Journey #105

The Car That is Our Life

Analogies have been made by men better then me that our lives are like a car, but before we get into this, a question:

What is the most valuable asset we own?

This asset which we can never get more of, whether rich or poor, is time.

Now back to the car analogy, it goes that we have one tank of gas and we aren’t getting anymore, so we need to be awfully careful on how we use it. Know where you are going and do your damnedest to make the best use of that fuel with the limited, imperfect information at your disposal to execute on.

With the fact of how finite and thereby precious time is established, we can move on. It has already been said countless times by numerous people to count that we shouldn’t waste it on pointless activities (TV, mindless web browsing and video games among them). It’s even been said since the times of Proverbs:

Sleep a little, doze a little. Fold your hands and twiddle your thumbs.

Suddenly everything is gone as though it was taken by an armed robber.

And indeed everything is gone if you waste your time doing nothing. Which we will get into more detail in a later discussion. Because it goes far beyond that.

So much more of our time is wasted on throwing it all away through emotional expenditures.

What I mean by that is all the arguments and disagreements we get into during the time in which you get entangled into these altercations certainly, but also the endless times we spend grinding on the issue. Playing it back in our heads endlessly, over and over again to the point where even when it is time to rest (sleep) we dream about it as though this person gets to live rent free inside our head and owns a large part of the real estate.

And it then just becomes a matter of why, why are you doing all of this?

Going back to the car analogy, you are just burning fuel that could be better spent elsewhere. And besides, I’m sure it’ll get to a point where it just gets plan tiring. Now how do you stop wasting all this emotional energy (which demands a lot of your time) grinding on all these beyond your control matters?

Well I wish I could give a good answer, but the fact of the matter is. I’m still looking for that answer. But in the meantime it’s just a matter of focusing on what you can control.

Kingston S. Lim

June 29, 2021

Chicago, Illinois

About Kingston’s Journey Series: Kingston’s Journey is a lifelong series. This is the travel journal I take with me. Whether you have questions such as how to change my life or how to travel the world, I think you’ll find value in the life lessons I’ve experienced and documented in this travel notebook. They may serve as travel inspiration for you. In Chinese, there is a saying, “讀萬卷書,不如行千里路.”

This means, instead of reading ten thousand books, why don’t you walk a thousand miles. This is my inspiration to travel every nation (or as many as possible) in my pursuit of my global MBA by learning as much as possible and recording these life lessons learned only by travel. In the end, I think the achievement of dreams, personal growth & aspirations out there through travel and adventure will lead to a more fulfilling life. Living and experiencing the “now” is how I’ll make my life a great memory in the future.