HOW (NOT) TO WASTE YOUR SUMMER VACATION: HS Edition

Summer just started. People already started posting their photos using their social media accounts about how "awesome" or how boring their summer vacation is. Regardless if your summer is exciting or boring, and since you have so much time scrolling up and down to see what's latest on FB or Twitter, please allow me to relieve you from your boredom or add some more excitement to your vacation for a few minutes.

Next to Christmas Vacation, Summer vacation is my favorite for so many reasons. I get to rest, travel, read, etc. I remember my summer vacation when I was in HS. We would always play Basketball every night and would have sleepovers afterwards. Nobody asked if we wanted to watch movies or go to the mall because we had no allowance. We were not into movie marathons yet. If we have some extra money, we would play DOTA for a minimum of 4 hours. Yes, I was addicted to playing DOTA but I stopped after I computed the money I spent for playing it. So I installed one on my laptop and told myself: Maglalaro lang ako pag libre. True enough my friends would always treat me for a game or two. I shared this because I want you to know that I had a very normal HS Summer Vacation. It was fun until I realized that I needed to be productive. I don't know how it happened. After all those sleepovers and DOTA games during summer, I felt like I had to make use of this vacation to improve or at least to be healthy. This was when I was in 1st year HS. Now allow me to share with you some of the things that you might want to consider doing this summer. 

Wake up early in the morning. - I don't know the physical benefits of waking up early in the morning but all I know is that being productive starts in waking up early. Plus, it's a way to learn some self-discipline. You may say that you have been waking up early in the morning for the last 10 months and that you may want to experience just lying in bed for an additional of 2 hours. First, when I said early in the morning, I was not referring to 5:30am. Second, aside from plain laziness, the reason why you don't want to wake up early is because you don't want to go to school BUT if you know that you would do something exciting or different that day - would you wake up a bit earlier? Remember that day when your teachers announced that you will have a retreat or a field trip? Somehow it was not burdensome for you to wake up early because there was something different for you to do. The same thing with summer vacation, look for something exciting to do. Jog. Play Basketball. Swim. Eat a decent breakfast. Not excited? Wait until you get older. You'll realize that not all simple things are boring. 

Read bookS. - Of course I'm not referring to text books (note the capital "s"). I'm referring to good books. A novel. An inspirational book. Go to your parents and ask for money to buy a book and hit the nearest book sale. Ask a friend who is a wide reader to help you find a good book to read. If you don't have the money to buy - you can always borrow. COMMIT TO FINISH THE BOOK. The first book that I was able to finish was Wild at Heart. Finishing a book feels good. It doesn't have to be a thick book or a famous book. I suggest you try to read Max Lucado's books. His writing is easy to understand and very conversational. Maybe you're not the type of person who reads books but someday you'll have to read a book and I suggest that you start now. It's a good investment. 

Exercise. Jog. Run. Push up. Play a sport. - I started to jog from our house to our school when I was in 1st year HS. My motive was to improve in my sport which was basketball. I wanted to run faster and play longer. Another motive was I wanted to have some sense of self-discipline. I wanted to be productive. You will find out that the attention you give in exercising and playing a sport would be rewarded - either with a healthy mind or a healthy body. Having a healthy body is also an investment. 

Spend some time at home.  - Yes, I'm guilty of this. My mother knows how much time I have spent outside our house and how many times I got scolded for spending too much time outside. For some of you who find it easy to stay at home, maybe this is not for you. Why should you spend some time at home? Because someday you would want to stay at home but you will find yourself unable to do so because of the commitments you have outside. Take it from me (and from all my college friends). There will come a time that there are just so many things to do - and you would just want to go home. You don't have to experience all the busyness to realize the importance of staying at home. 

Build your Character. - Summer vacation is a good opportunity to think about what you value the most as a young person. A bit serious for a HS student? I don't think so. Students who lack seriousness during their HS years sometimes lack the maturity when they enter college. It's not a generalization. I suggested that you wake up early, read a book, exercise and stay at home because these are efforts to build your character. Waking up early will teach you self-discipline. Reading a book will help you develop your thinking skills. Exercising will help you take care of your body. Staying at home will help you value rest and not miss out on the lessons given by your parents. All these have a long term effect on us. 

Develop a habit of Prayer and Bible reading.  - "There you go again with your spiritual stuff, Matt." I cannot find any good reason why I shouldn’t include this on the list. More than self-improvement, character-building, spending time at home - having a strong relationship with Jesus must be your topmost priority. Summer vacation is not just an opportunity to improve on our physical, social, mental, intellectual aspects - it's an opportunity to know God more. When you get to realize the importance of having a strong and personal relationship with Jesus, you'll be surprised with how much change He can bring into your life - inside and out.

You are just a summer a way to the purpose that God has prepared you for. Choose to make this summer different from others.

1 Timothy 4:12

12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.