time – Rei's tumblelog

May 1, 2011

There goes another weekend

It’s Sunday, 3:30pm in Canberra. In half an hour all the stores in town close and the only sources of entertainment left are the movies and restaurants.

I need to find a way to avoid falling into the category of “oh my God it’s Monday! Thank God it’s Friday!” people.

Part of the problem is that Canberra is a city that allows for its residents to fall into an inertia of just staying at home on the weekend. On the other hand, there are a lot of outdoors things to do when the weather is nice. It requires the initiative and effort of the individual.

It doesn’t help that public transport on weekends is not frequent. A private mode of transport is almost a necessity to really enjoy this town unless of course you’re able to live in or near the city itself.

Anyway, this post is perhaps a reminder and incentive for me to not sleep in on weekends and to get up and do things. Most of all to make the most of the leisure time the weekend affords us.

We take it for granted that the fact we only work 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week was something our predecessors fought for internationally.

So, I’m looking forward to going to work early tomorrow morning. I’m going to enjoy every afternoon this week and I’ll be looking forward to Friday afternoon but not in the ‘end of the world fashion’ as the stereotype mentioned before.

April 26, 2011

Waste money, not time

I’m stubborn in my ways, I’m also thrifty. I’m the type who will eat everything on the plate if I’m paying for it.

I watch movies at the cinema until the credits roll because no matter how bad the movie is, I’m paying and should at least wait until the end.

Well, not anymore. I’m going through a phase where I’m placing more value on time than money. So from now on if I’m not enjoying a coffee, a sandwich or a movie, I’m not going to finish it. I’m going to value my time and prioritise it.

I’ve already started doing this. Last year I stopped reading “everything is illuminated” and I don’t think I’ll pick it up again. I walked out of the movie “eat, pray, love” (I shouldn’t have walked into it in the first place). I should have walked out of “the waiting city” too!

Sometimes I may not make the best choice of movie, book or place to go and eat but I no longer have the time to tolerate a sub-standard use of my time.

I encourage others to prioritise their time too.

December 25, 2009

The last 12 months in review

This year was supposed to be my Sabbatical year. It seems more like my Karma year with many lessons to learn (and not knowing what all of them were).

I guess it’s given me a new perspective and a different way of viewing and analyzing situations. The things you take for granted become apparent in tough times. And as boring as it is to hear this, it’s always the simple and free things which make your time here enjoyable.

Time is the most important commodity given to us (after health of course). The way in which we use time is vital to our well being. Time is used to afford living expenses and accumulate wealth. Time is used to create and maintain relationships with other human beings. Time is used to rest, in order to carry out the tasks asked of the human body.

Nowadays it is so easy to misuse or waste time. Hours can be spent on activities that do not produce any benefit for the person taking part. The internet is a great provider of time consumption, you don’t really notice this until you are procrastinating one night when you should be working on something or else sleeping. Writing blogs can also be seen as a waste of time. Reading them also (we’re all guilty now)!

Anyway, things I have learned.

Reconsider how you spend each minute of free time.
Respect your body, this means sleeping well
Respect your stomach, eating well
Respect your life, don’t take health risks – this means think twice before drinking or taking drugs, try to avoid travelling on motorcycles or bicycles, don’t speed while driving
Find ways to cut back on items you don’t need to spend money on. Rethink buying candy, magazines, cans of soft drink etc.
Value your family and loved ones. Try to spend time with them before you get too old.
Every year you should be adding value to your wealth or savings. You might need to rely on these things one day.
Every day should be a step (large or small) toward your final destination.
A man is not his job, that is just one aspect of the man.

Anyway, I give thanks for this year. Although it hasn’t been an easy year, it wasn’t all bad either.

I eagerly await 2010. I’m sure it has great things in store for everybody.