Who's Got the Time?

Mondays are hell. Wednesday is hump day. Thank god it’s Friday. Everybody is working for the weekend. Two weeks paid vacation a year. Does that routine sound familiar to you? You have to live every day as if it were as precious as the weekend or a vacation. Do the math, folks. Two weeks off a year means you get one year off every 26 years. That sounds like the house has the odds stacked against you.

As I write this I’m sitting in a café watching a pair of crows build a nest in a fir tree across the street. If the business people around me knew what I was doing they would probably say to each other, “Now there’s a guy with too much free time on his hands.” They are probably right.

I constantly hear people complaining that they don’t have the time to do the things they would like to do. I suspect that these people are like me and that they have the time but they are mostly too lazy to do the things they dream about. You just need to decide what it is you really want and then just tear into it. Want to learn French? Go buy a book and get started. Want to play music? Go down to the music store and pick out an instrument. It is really that easy. Sure, this stuff takes time but time is all that you really need. Most of the things in life that make you a more interesting person don’t cost money, they just take time. Books are free at the library.

I waste as much time as the next guy but I never say that I’m too busy to become a more interesting person and I don’t believe you when you say that you don’t have enough time. Time is all about choices. You can either read or go to the mall. Watch a rerun or practice playing the violin. Study Spanish or page through People magazine, it’s your call. If you have time to do all of those things then that’s great, too.

By the way, if you’ve never watched crows build a nest you are really missing something. I should write a piano sonata about it. Lord knows I have enough time.