Are you familiar with this conversation?
Friend: Hey, want to go for a drink?
You: Sorry, I don’t have the time.
I am sure you have answered that way before. Probably more than you thought. I certainly use this as an excuse whenever I am busy. Tired of hearing the same reply all the time, my friend frankly remarked.
“How long are you going to be busy anyway? You do know that you aren’t going to live forever, don’t you?”
In the midst of living in the rat race, paying the bills and struggling with a physically exhausted body, that statement hit me hard and woke me from the distressing life that has clouded me for years.
The irony is that, I always thought I had everything; some college education, a middle class home, a fairly healthy body and an interesting job with a stable income. Naturally, the next thing to do is to work, work and work.
My family sees less of me as I am often absent from the dinner table. My friends got tired of asking me out because they hear my voice messages more than they hear from me. I put away my music studio because music is only something that I can pursue when I have the leisure.
Before I created this blog, I actually thought that all these lifestyles are normal. All busy people behave like that. Should I be any different?
“Have you ever planned your life?”
I thought everything was in order, that right after I have a stable job, I would have the quality of life that everyone is talking about. However, after 20 years of work, work, work, work, I must admit that my situation is not even close to picture perfect.
What I didn’t realize was that I had traded my time to earn a living so that I can afford the things that I want, but on the downside, it’s almost impossible to find time to enjoy these pleasures.
In other words, a person that is rich in cash, but poor in time will never find ways to live agood quality lifestyle.
When I draft my timeline (like the one in this infographic), I finally understood the perspective of time and what I have been missing out on life all these while.
I have filled my path with restrictions and obligations to the point that they obscured my freedom of choice, especially on how I choose to spend my time.
“If you have all the time in this world, what would you do differently today?”
I haven’t thought about this seriously before. It never occurs to me that I would do anything different with my life until I reach the retirement age, or at least when I earn a five figure monthly income. Obviously, I would be quite worn out by then.
Having realized that I have the freedom to choose, I don’t think I want to wait until I am old and gray to enjoywhat I love doing most. As I begin to expand the list of my time freedom, I could see myself giving more priorities for my personal well being and happiness.
There is a sense of gratification that I haven’t experienced in a long while. Time is the new currency and people who have more time to enjoy life are considered equally as successful as the ones who are financially rich.
Regardless of which life stages we are at, it’s time to explore our choices. Let go of the circumstances and people that we can’t change and embrace new opportunities to create a personal wealth that can reward us with both financial and time freedom.
So, the next time someone asks you out for a drink, go for it. It is an invitation for you to slow down and to enjoy the finer things in life.
“Time is your most precious commodity and yet most of us live our lives as if we have all the time in the world.” – Robin Sharma