---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We need to distinguish between activities…"
description: "\"“We need to distinguish between activities that are spiritually fulfilling versus ones that leave us feeling hollow in the end. I used to play a lot of..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/172/richard-l-haight-66419_end-of-the-day_we-need-to-distinguish-between-activitie_1380530.jpg"
---

#  We need to distinguish between activities that are…

![“We need to distinguish between activities that are spiritually fulfilling versus ones that leave us feeling hollow in the end. I used to play a lot of video games. Simply put, they were fun and exciting. I was good at them, and I liked getting better. During weekends I could spend more than twelve…” quote by Richard L. Haight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/172/richard-l-haight-66419_end-of-the-day_we-need-to-distinguish-between-activitie_1380530.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/172/richard-l-haight-66419_end-of-the-day_we-need-to-distinguish-between-activitie_1380530.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/172/richard-l-haight-66419_end-of-the-day_we-need-to-distinguish-between-activitie_1380530.jpg)

> ““We need to distinguish between activities that are spiritually fulfilling versus ones that leave us feeling hollow in the end. I used to play a lot of video games. Simply put, they were fun and exciting. I was good at them, and I liked getting better. During weekends I could spend more than twelve hours playing video games. I did so for years. I noticed that, as fun as the games were, at the end of the day, I often felt a lingering sense of regret or hollowness, as if I had wasted my time. My body seemed to be telling me that there was no meaning in that activity — which is not to say that everyone will feel just like I did, but pay attention to the feeling in the body during and after activities. Make note of the activities that are fulfilling. Spend more time doing those activities. Also, note those activities that result in hollowness or regret. Spend less time doing those things. We can wean ourselves from meaningless activities and gravitate more toward meaningful ones.””

[Richard L. Haight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-l-haight/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Distinguish activities that nourish the spirit from those that leave emptiness; prioritize the former for a fulfilling life.

**In simple terms:** Choose meaningful activities over hollow ones.

Key Takeaway

Focus on what feels rewarding; avoid regretful past.

Themes

fulfillment self‑awareness balance

Mood

introspective motivational

Type

advice self‑help

When to use this quote

- career choice
- hobbies
- leisure time
- digital media consumption

Key Concepts

mind‑body signals meaningful living

Questions to Reflect On

- What activities leave you feeling empty?
- How can you integrate meaning into daily routines?

A Different Perspective

Even rewarding activities can become hollow if they lack deeper purpose.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[End of the day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/end-of-the-day/) [Fulfilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fulfilling/) [Getting better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/getting-better/) [Gravitate Meaningful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gravitate-meaningful-4781405/) [Hollowness Regret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hollowness-regret-4781403/) [Pay attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pay-attention/) [Playing video games](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/playing-video-games/) [Regret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regret/) [Regret Hollowness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regret-hollowness-4781404/) [Sense Regret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense-regret-1218671/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Video games](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/video-games/) [Wasted my time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wasted-my-time/)

## Related quotes

> [So, have you been enjoying yourself these days, Kazami?' I'm having lots of fun.' It was true. That made the sense of regret even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banana-yoshimoto/so-have-you-been-enjoying-yourself-these-days-kazami-i-m-having-lots/)

[Banana Yoshimoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banana-yoshimoto/)

> [“When his touch fell away, she experienced an odd sense of regret, a quickening of her pulse, and an emptiness in her gut.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vivienne-savage/when-his-touch-fell-away-she-experienced-an-odd-sense-of-regret-a/)

[Vivienne Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vivienne-savage/)

> [“If I could find someone to blame, perhaps I could get angry. Anything would be better than this sadness, this sense of regret for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-davies/if-i-could-find-someone-to-blame-perhaps-i-could-get-angry-anything/)

[Luke Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-davies/)

> [I do have a very deep sense of regret that there was a conflict and that people lost their lives, and you know, many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-mcguinness/i-do-have-a-very-deep-sense-of-regret-that-there-was-a-conflict-and/)

[Martin McGuinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-mcguinness/)

> [I notice with a certain sense of regret that far too many Europeans are returning to a regional and national mindset.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-claude-juncker/i-notice-with-a-certain-sense-of-regret-that-far-too-many-europeans/)

[Jean-Claude Juncker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-claude-juncker/)

> [There are people who are saying that they voted twice for Mr. Obama and they are now feeling a great sense of regret, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vijay-prashad/there-are-people-who-are-saying-that-they-voted-twice-for-mr-obama/)

[Vijay Prashad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vijay-prashad/)

> [What do you imagine the American people would think of me if I wasted my time going to the ball game?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grover-cleveland/what-do-you-imagine-the-american-people-would-think-of-me-if-i-wasted/)

[Grover Cleveland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grover-cleveland/)

> [Only when the clock stops does time come to life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/only-when-the-clock-stops-does-time-come-to-life/)

[William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/)

> [If I don't do something constructive every day, I feel like I have wasted my time, and I almost feel guilty for not doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-makosinski/if-i-don-t-do-something-constructive-every-day-i-feel-like-i-have/)

[Ann Makosinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-makosinski/)

> [You wasted my time, you made me cry, my life was hard, my cheeks are dry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-wasted-my-time-you-made-me-cry-my-life-was-hard-my-cheeks-are-dry/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I'm glad I ain't go to college, though. I probably woulda wasted my time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angus-cloud/i-m-glad-i-ain-t-go-to-college-though-i-probably-woulda-wasted-my-time/)

[Angus Cloud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angus-cloud/)

> […It’s hard to appreciate the beauty of a world when one doubts its very validity….But I’ve long since lost all such doubts, Ono,’ he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/it-s-hard-to-appreciate-the-beauty-of-a-world-when-one-doubts-its/)

[Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/)

> [They have terrified my poor wife and threatened my very person!" Halt eyed the man impassivley until the outburst was finished. Worse than that,"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flanagan/they-have-terrified-my-poor-wife-and-threatened-my-very-person-halt/)

[John Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flanagan/)

> [You WASTED my time, soo therefore YOU AINT WORTH MY TIME LIFE GOES ON!!!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ty/you-wasted-my-time-soo-therefore-you-aint-worth-my-time-life-goes-on/)

[Ty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ty/)

> [I wasted my time on your childish games. But don't worry I will not even try to hate you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-f-b-mora/i-wasted-my-time-on-your-childish-games-but-don-t-worry-i-will-not/)

[Cynthia F B Mora](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-f-b-mora/)

## More by Richard L. Haight

> [“If meditation is a tool, your body is the guide, and your life is the path. What are the folds? What are the bindings?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-l-haight/if-meditation-is-a-tool-your-body-is-the-guide-and-your-life-is-the/)

[Richard L. Haight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-l-haight/)

> [“Saint Paul wrote that your body is the temple, which is to say, your body holds the wisdom that you seek. While there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-l-haight/saint-paul-wrote-that-your-body-is-the-temple-which-is-to-say-your/)

[Richard L. Haight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-l-haight/)

> [“Realizing that meditation is about defocusing, I saw that the next step was to simply choose to defocus the mind from the outset. Focusing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-l-haight/realizing-that-meditation-is-about-defocusing-i-saw-that-the-next/)

[Richard L. Haight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-l-haight/)

[Explore all 4 Richard L. Haight quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-l-haight/)

## More End of the day quotes

> [Care less about what other people think because at the end of the day, everyone is so worried about themselves &amp; how they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-oakley/care-less-about-what-other-people-think-because-at-the-end-of-the-day/)

[Tyler Oakley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-oakley/)

> [Obviously, I want to win, but at the same time, at the end of the day, it's a game and that's what I'm going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-rendon/obviously-i-want-to-win-but-at-the-same-time-at-the-end-of-the-day-it/)

[Anthony Rendon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-rendon/)

> [At the end of the day, the key to happiness is taking ultimate responsibility for your reactions to all of your experiences - the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehuda-berg/at-the-end-of-the-day-the-key-to-happiness-is-taking-ultimate/)

[Yehuda Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yehuda-berg/)

> [I'm a humanist at heart: at the end of the day, we are all human beings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chet-faker/i-m-a-humanist-at-heart-at-the-end-of-the-day-we-are-all-human-beings/)

[Chet Faker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chet-faker/)

> [At the end of the day, winning games is the only thing that matters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-vanvleet/at-the-end-of-the-day-winning-games-is-the-only-thing-that-matters/)

[Fred VanVleet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-vanvleet/)

> [You can hurt me a million times but at the end of the day I still love you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-nicole-haynes/you-can-hurt-me-a-million-times-but-at-the-end-of-the-day-i-still/)

[Samantha Nicole Haynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-nicole-haynes/)

> [Trying to find this industry's tendency to celebrate the physical is a waste of time. So I'm happy to play the game. But I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-wilde/trying-to-find-this-industry-s-tendency-to-celebrate-the-physical-is/)

[Olivia Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-wilde/)

> [At the end of the day, the players and the coach have to talk - that's what consolidates the relationship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergio-ramos/at-the-end-of-the-day-the-players-and-the-coach-have-to-talk-that-s/)

[Sergio Ramos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergio-ramos/)

> [Knowing at the end of the day you get to go home and you can work on your own project is super rewarding as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-keenan-bolger/knowing-at-the-end-of-the-day-you-get-to-go-home-and-you-can-work-on/)

[Andrew Keenan-Bolger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-keenan-bolger/)

> [I can picture certain things in my mind, while writing the script, but then I can also tell that everyone else might be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-zombie/i-can-picture-certain-things-in-my-mind-while-writing-the-script-but/)

[Rob Zombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-zombie/)

> [The bottom line, in the professional level, no matter where you go, there's going to be competition. That's what it is. At the end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-tolzien/the-bottom-line-in-the-professional-level-no-matter-where-you-go/)

[Scott Tolzien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-tolzien/)

> [At the end of the day, if you don't identify with the main characters, no television show will work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hiro-murai/at-the-end-of-the-day-if-you-don-t-identify-with-the-main-characters/)

[Hiro Murai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hiro-murai/)

> [At the end of the day, I'm a guy that stays in my own lane.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-jackson/at-the-end-of-the-day-i-m-a-guy-that-stays-in-my-own-lane/)

[Mark Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-jackson/)

> [At the end of the day, football is just part of me, it's my love, my passion and my drive. But I understand at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/micah-parsons/at-the-end-of-the-day-football-is-just-part-of-me-it-s-my-love-my/)

[Micah Parsons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/micah-parsons/)

> [When I saw him I thought I could curl up inside him and go to sleep and never wake up." "Men are no good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/when-i-saw-him-i-thought-i-could-curl-up-inside-him-and-go-to-sleep/)

[Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/)

[Browse all 3,685 End of the day quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/end-of-the-day/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“We need to distinguish between activities that are spiritually fulfilling versus ones that leave us feeling hollow in the end. I used to play a lot of video games. Simply put, they were fun and exciting. I was good at them, and I liked getting better. During weekends I could spend more than twelve hours playing video games. I did so for years. I noticed that, as fun as the games were, at the end of the day, I often felt a lingering sense of regret or hollowness, as if I had wasted my time. My body seemed to be telling me that there was no meaning in that activity — which is not to say that everyone will feel just like I did, but pay attention to the feeling in the body during and after activities. Make note of the activities that are fulfilling. Spend more time doing those activities. Also, note those activities that result in hollowness or regret. Spend less time doing those things. We can wean ourselves from meaningless activities and gravitate more toward meaningful ones.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Richard L. Haight"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-l-haight/we-need-to-distinguish-between-activities-that-are-spiritually/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "End of the day"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-l-haight/we-need-to-distinguish-between-activities-that-are-spiritually/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/172/richard-l-haight-66419_end-of-the-day_we-need-to-distinguish-between-activitie_1380530.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/172/richard-l-haight-66419_end-of-the-day_we-need-to-distinguish-between-activitie_1380530.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/172/richard-l-haight-66419_end-of-the-day_we-need-to-distinguish-between-activitie_1380530.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“We need to distinguish between activities that are spiritually fulfilling versus ones that leave us feeling…” — Richard L. Haight",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Richard L. Haight",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-l-haight/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“We need to distinguish between activities...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-l-haight/we-need-to-distinguish-between-activities-that-are-spiritually/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-l-haight/we-need-to-distinguish-between-activities-that-are-spiritually/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
