While I think there is a place for activism and for helping raise awareness of important issues. I feel we often fall into being too gimmicky with our activism and see self denial as the end, not as a means to an end.

C.S. Lewis starts his essay The Weight of Glory by asking what the ‘highest of virtues’ is and he writes that most would probably answer unselfishness, but that we should really be focused on love instead of unselfishness.

The negative ideal of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point. I do not think this is the Christian virtue of Love. The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself.

While I know he wasn’t talking about activism directly I think the principle still applies. I’ve noticed a tendency for activism to slide into unselfishness and self-denial without actually doing any good. In activism we need to make sure that we don’t see self-denial as the end, but rather the means to an end.

I took issue with the fact that in the statement made by Richard Branson I didn’t see a call to action other than to join him in fasting which in and of itself doesn’t do any good for anyone in Darfur. The organization spearheading this movement FastDarfur.org does have calls to action which have the potential of helping others, but it doesn’t appear to be the primary focus. They seem to be more intent on getting people start fasting rather than taking more direct action.

In discussing this with Amber she pointed out that perhaps this was just the first step to other action. That experiencing the hunger that people in Darfur are experiencing would be the catalyst for people to finally take additional action. If that’s the case then I think it’s a good place to start, but I don’t think it stops there and when there isn’t any mention of further actions until you dig into the website I fear the core message might get lost.

Here is my first draft, I’m sure this will evolve over time as things change, but hopefully the core purpose will remain intact. I’m sharing this publicly for additional accountability. If you catch me not adhering to this, please feel free to call me out.

Increasing My Attention Span

Recently I’ve noticed a disturbing trend in my interactions online. If I came across a bit of content that seemed interesting I would immediately scroll down to see how long it was, if it seemed too long, I often wouldn’t read it. It scares me that I don’t have the attention span to read through good content just because of it’s length. I seem to have grown accustomed to receiving my content in bite size portions or through video, that I no longer have the patience for lengthy content. I resolve to read content based on the value regardless of its length. I also resolve to stop watching frivolous videos (some exceptions being keynotes, lectures or sermons).

Digesting Content, Not Just Consuming

I spend too much time reading really interesting content online. Most of which is worthwhile. But just as I don’t eat just to eat, but rather to stay alive and nourish my body through the digesting of that food. I believe I should be digesting that content not just consuming it. I resolve to respond to each piece of content I consume. To digest it and make it meaningful to me. This means responding to it as if I were to post a comment or write my own blog post on the subject. I will not be posting all my responses, but at least I’ve spent the time to understand and digest the content.

Creating Lasting Content

Although a Tweet can be valuable, it can’t last. Just by the nature of Twitter things you post are very transient. I believe that is only adding to the noise, by not creating lasting value. I am going to shift my focus to more lasting mediums, such as blog posts or discussions in comments, etc.

Purposeful Sharing

There is something to be said for spreading good information I’ve found online. But too often I just spew the new found content, unfocused, into the void. I believe sharing that information should be targeted and purposeful. I should have someone in mind when I share a link and not just put it out there and hope someone finds value in it.

Removing Intrusive Distractions

I typically have a Twitter client open at all times, and another one on my phone so I’m constantly connected and receiving messages from Twitter. I also have constant access to email, the alerts constantly vying for my attention. I believe this is counter-productive and that I should determine when I will engage with that content and not let it determine that for me. I resolve to remove those intrusive distractions and instead be purposeful in determining when I will respond to them.

So here is my list of top 15 most useful TextMate shortcuts that have saved me countless hours accomplishing simple tasks, and these just scratch the surface. Take some time to browse through the bundles to find ones that work for you. You can also create your own or edit the existing ones to suit your needs.

'$1' => ${3:'$4'},$5

echo "<pre>"; print_r ($variable); die("</pre>");

echo "<pre>"; print_r (${1:variable}); die("</pre>");

Post your most useful in the comments. Thanks!

PHILOSOPHY
I believe that life is a gift and we can shape our own destiny through our choices, actions, and behaviors. This site explores how young people can make better choices and follow through with action to experience a life more abundant.

cat·a·lyst -noun
a person or thing that precipitates an event or change

Life catalysts can either shock us into inaction or shove us into forward motion. These catalysts can be extremely joyful events in our lives or downright lame ones, at least on the surface. But both can either be detrimental or helpful depending on how we choose to deal with them.

In thinking about the advances in my life throughout the years I can see one such catalyst. I can trace a lot of forward progress directly back to this catalyst and without it I know my life wouldn’t be what it is today. It was when we found out that Amber was pregnant and we were going to have our first child. I’ve written about this experience previously, but this was the catalyst that whipped me into shape. It was at that moment that I realized the urgency in getting our finances and my career on the right track. We had been planning on getting back to living within our means, paying off our debt and me getting into a career that I enjoyed and that would pay enough for us to live comfortably. But without any pressure we weren’t getting much done to accomplish that. It was the realization that we now were responsible for a child as well as each other that we really started to get things inline. Less than a year later we are very close to being completely debt free, we are living within our means and I’m doing something that I both enjoy and that pays the bills.

Another catalyst has recently presented itself not in my life, but that of my parents. My Mom recently found out that due to political reason within the company she works for she was going to be asked to resign. Needless to say this was not a joyful catalyst. The prospect of being unemployed can be paralyzing. But there is a choice to be made, to accept it and be crushed by it, or to see it as an opportunity to move on and do something bigger and better. My parents have decided to choose the latter and so far have used this catalyst effectively to move forward.

Anytime a life changing catalyst comes into our lives we have a choice, to either let it crush us, or to use it to spur us forward. Unfortunately deciding not to let it crush us is only half the battle. The other half is actually implementing a strategy to use that catalyst positively. Just as with other overwhelming events in our lives, if looked at objectively and break it up into smaller steps it can be achieved, but more on that in another post.

I’m looking forward to my next life catalyst, realizing it’s not going to be easy, but excited about the forward progress that will occur.