Snowcrastinating - thought #2

Greetings! 

So it seems to have got to 5:20pm this Sunday evening and I thought it was about time I had a go at blog post number two. 

It seems only natural to mention a slight sense of euphoria attached to the weather over the past few days, it has indeed snowed, and quite extensively at that! As someone of a slightly younger generation I feel as though it is my duty to be jumping up and down with joy, but in all reality, i'm not too bothered. Yes, i'd have loved to be making snowmen and - as per tradition in my family - other snow-beings (such as the recently-born "Snow-elephant" in my grandmother's back garden!) but in all honesty I've had too much to do and too little time to do it in, which is kind of what the main body of what i'm writing about today is centered around. I've often found that thinking clearly is somewhat easier when it's a choice between that, and getting some work done for that ever-approaching deadline. 

So a few days ago, when the snow first started really building up on the ground, I was walking back from my bus-stop and was reveling in the amazing feeling of walking on untouched snow, and noticed that because of just how soft and new it was, every footprint I left seemed to be perfectly shaped, as thought it was meant to be there. Naturally, this made me feel quite proud, but when - about an hour later - I ventured outside again, I saw that my footprints (still the only ones on this particular stretch of snow) were almost completely filled in again with the snow that had fallen since. This triggered a little bit of thinking, or even "Snowcrastinating" as I have so named it (must say, I'm quite chuffed with that one myself). 

"Most steps in life are unaccounted for. Try changing that, for it doesn't have to be that way. Make what you do today have a positive impact on what happens tomorrow" - Unknown

American Pedometer researcher Catherine Tudor-Locke found that the average woman takes around 5120 steps in a day, and the average man about 2000 more. Draw this together with other studies and work out figures and that would mean that the average person walks anywhere between 43,000 and 115,000 miles in their lifetime. That would mean about two to four times around the world. These statistics really made me think, because that would mean that I, aged 17, having not even lived a quarter of my life expectancy, have potentially walked around 18000 miles so far in my life, which is over half the earth's circumference. If you can, work it out for yourself. Even those steps that you might have thought counted, that first time in Nando's, the stepping off the plane into your latest holiday destination, getting up to help cook dinner (and these are just a few of my examples) haven't really done a huge amount of good in the long run, have they? It may seem a little over-touchy, but the mood I just so happened to be in those few days ago really made me feel quite sad. In so much as, it's quite difficult to think of something that I've done, steps that I've taken that really have left a mark. Yes okay, granted I'm only young, but surely life can afford to be slowed down a little in order to think out what the next steps will be, in order to make the future brighter. 
This is something I think society as a whole has lost over the years. Simple 'necessities' didn't used to be as available as they are to us today. People actually had to plan out how to get the best out of their day, and how their own actions might make things more manageable for themselves or even for other people in the long-run. Nowadays, everything really is laid out for us on a platter, especially for young people. If we think about it, it's never been easier to get an education, to grasp new opportunities to better ourselves, to get life experience etc, but what do we do? Complain. All the time. Personally, I'd love to get into Cambridge University, but it's dawned on me that I never seem to stop moaning about how hard it will be. And the same goes for some of my friends, wanting to get into Medical School, or Law School, or going on into the world of work. People just don't see how easy others that came before us have made it, yet all that seems to happen is we get wrapped up in our own lives and forget that those steps that we keep taking mean nothing, they're just going to keep getting covered over by whatever is coming at us at the time. 
There have been innumerable amounts of studies done on Personal Development and Social change over time, but one - slightly strange - relevant one I happened to stumble across was that of Richard Wiseman in the 1990s on 'The Pace Of Life.' He found that ten years after carrying out a control experiment, in the early '90s, people in the world's major cities were walking up to 20% faster. He then said "This simple measurement provides a significant insight into the physical and social health of a city." and then later added that individuals moving at a faster pace were less likely to help others, and more likely to walk past a £50 note lying in full view on the ground. For me, aside from feeling a sense of disbelief that somebody could miss a £50 note on the floor, this signified more than just scientific fact. It is no news to us, any of us, that we are constantly evolving, and the world of technology and industry is evolving right along with us, but perhaps too fast? It all links back to my footprints in the snow. Luckily, I was feeling reflective that day, and I was able to notice that those footsteps were there, and equally I was able to notice when they were gone, but more and more now, people don't bother looking back, to see if what they've done in the past was really the best thing to do for the future. 

Thought #2? Think more. Don't be making perfectly shaped footprints everywhere you go, because there's always going to be someone there to cover them up, but at least, for your own satisfaction, make sure they count for you. You. No more rushing around and complaining that there's no time, just stop for a while and make time for yourself, to think about how your steps today have changed your path for tomorrow. 

All that, from a little bit of snow. Hey Ho, at least we might get some time off work. 
Over and out, until next week.