We've all said it. We probably all meant it. Ever wondered what it would be like to have enough free time to do the things you wanted to? I mean all of them. Every last one. Just what would you have to clear out of your life to make that possible? Would you still go ahead? That job you need to do, those children to raise, those chores, the often endless demands on your time.
Ok let's role play. Not literally, I'd get myself in all kinds of hot water. I mean conceptually. If you had time and unlimited resources what would you do with it? Go on, dream away. You have my full permission. Somewhere you want to go? Something you want to do? Visit a place, a friend, or a lover?
What would the perfect day be for you? Now believe me, I'm never bored, and I always crave time I don't have. Yet as I imagine my own perfect day I grow aware of a certain selfishness. Fact is, we'd need to put a lot of things in temporary boxes to clear the space, and some of those things would be part of what enrich our lives in the first place. So I guess what we're left with is a trade off, which dovetails into the question of how we balance what we've got with what we want? And let's accept that unless you are unhealthily selfish there has to be a trade off somewhere. If I lived a completely selfish life my wife and children would suffer. And It seems to me that a person who wanted everything on their own terms wouldn't be a person I'd want to spend too much time around. The more I reflect, the uglier the person I'm imaging becomes. Egocentric, self oriented, self absorbed, self consumed. Are these qualities that we want to aspire to? Thought not. So then here's an idea. How about taking aboard the following mantra; Love a little, live a little, give a little? Or if your squeamish about the term "little" exchange it for "A lot". Whichever way the message persists. Look outward as well as inward. Seek not just your own good but the good of all. And maybe, just maybe, if enough of us take this on board we might make for ourselves a better world?
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