For a few weeks now, I’ve been thinking a lot about some simple questions.
What does it mean to waste your life?
And if you discover you really are wasting your life, what do you do about it?
I’ve known that I wanted to talk about this for awhile — ever since I saw an odd exhortation on a church sign near my house. It said, “Please don’t waste your life.” I didn’t disagree with the sentiments of the sign — although I’m unclear what their context was — but I started thinking about how few people even realize their lives are wasted until it’s too late.
That led me to thinking about my own life — and how my thoughts about a life worth living have changed over the years. But I wasn’t really ready to talk about it until I passed a house near my office Monday afternoon and saw a front yard with two two adult-size chairs and one child-size chair.
Then I knew how I wanted to conclude this. Maybe it won’t apply to you, but it feels true for me.
Tap or click below to listen. And please forgive the train in the distance at the end. I’m not really worrying about avoiding such sounds anymore. Keep Reading

Shame of not being perfect comes with every new thing I try to do
We project an image for others, but few see us as we really are
Patterns that made old mistakes keep us making same old errors
Not satire this time: In New Zealand, one model cries discrimination
Maturity asked me to learn that I’d never win certain arguments
With changed priorities, it’s time to re-evaluate my long-term goal
Christmas stands for quiet truths: love, faith, community and family
Plans change and people hurt us, but we often need to start over
The more I understand humans, the less I really comprehend us