Do it yourself

I've always been a fan of books that teach you how to do things on your own. I think the first one of these I encountered was the Idiots Guide to Spanish, or something like that. Unfortunately, it didn't help me learn Spanish, but it exposed me to a world where I could learn things from books and not have to take a class in it. Next came a book on how to build robots (oh, the things little kids take an interest in)...that book, I DID learn a few things about electronics and simple machines, and a general understanding of the goal of robotics. It is almost as if I were taking robotics 101--this was back in elementary school. I used to lug these books into class during reading time and whip them out when I got bored (which was frequently) or when I was forced to read something during reading time. I still have a few of the robotics books that I had back then...if I only comprehended them as I could now if I read them...I'd probably be well into an engineering life by now.
Next came C++...my brother had a book on the shelf just dying to be read, and I thought: hmmm, video games are cool, people who program video games use C and C++...I should learn that. So I tried to. I think I programmed a few things but I've forgotten it now. After that was perl, which I still kinda know, along with the HTML I learned from online websites.
Now days I am amassing a collection of books related to the film industry, from how to run in the buisness to writing screenplays, directing, cinematography, VFX etc. etc. I've found that I need to stick to a specific subject until I can say I have mastered it before I pitch out more money into other fields. (gotta make money in my first choice before I can pay back the cost of these books and get on to a new subject!)

What I think I wanted that story to lead into is that life is solely about making choices and doing things for yourself. Movies THRIVE off of them. Name any of the greatest films of all time and you'll discover that the hero reaches a point where they have to do things for themselves in order to solve the big "problem". All of the mentors disappear, all of the sidekicks and lovers are thrown out of the picture temporarily, and it's up to the hero to do things on their own. That's what we go to movies for is to see that happen.

So my point is, with how much our conscious and subconscious LOVES doing things, we ought to also all realize that we NEED to do things ourselves. A wasted life is one in which the person doesn't do anything. They don't change, they don't solve problems, they don't recognize problems, they don't do anything but stay stagnant. I think the same could be said about a day: a day is wasted when nothing happens in it. If at the end of the day you don't feel like anything is different from the previous day, then what are you doing? If you go to work, make money, spend that money (in increments) on the food you eat for the day, the games you play for the day, the house you live in, etc. And you eat, play, and sleep, then WHAT DID YOU DO FOR THE DAY?
If you aren't making any progress towards your goals, if you don't have goals, if you don't change up your schedule, or you are unsatisfied with the things that transpired in the day, then what did you do for the day?
It's interesting to talk to (creative) writers because most have experienced a point in one of their stories where their main character is just flat. He's stagnant. He stinks. And they dont want to go back and rewrite anything to make him interesting. No one likes this guy, he might be perfect or might be perfectly evil (and therefore full of conflict) but if he doesn't make any kind of change, people feel dissatisfied when the story ends.
People in real life do it too, but unlike in stories, there is only a few people watching their life (aka. their story). They are the people closest to us, and most importantly, ourselves. We can feel like we are boring, and useless, and dull, and uninteresting, and these thoughts can really bring down our self worth. It's a shame too, because all the individual needs to do to pull out of it is to seek to make changes in their daily life: to improve on themselves, or their lifestyle, to mix things up, go a different road home, try something new, etc.

"Do it yourself" is a good saying. We each have to do things for ourselves, and the only person who can change YOU is You. Not your mentors, not your protege's not your friends or family. But you.