The Luxury of Time
- 2 minsI used to believe that it’s conventional wisdom to not have the luxury of time at some point in your life.
At work, we have this recurring meeting called Chit-Chat session to talk about anything under the sun that is not work-related. And through this, I get the chance to know what my colleagues are currently up to when they are not working — and it makes me wonder why it seems that they have so much time than I have…
During the early years of my professional career, I remember someone said this:
Tech industry is one of those avenues where you get how much you put in…
I took it like a gospel to have a successful career. That’s why I’m used to hammer myself hustling because it feels like the time not spent working is a missed opportunity to earn money.
Little did I know, the pros of that kind of mindset are outweighed by its cons.
- Not being present — in pursuit of having a status of a responsible adult and successful career, we often forget that our loved ones are not frozen in time.
- Toll on health — busy schedule makes us numb up in a sense where we forget that in this lifetime, we are only entitled to have one body and one chance to live.
- Losing some friends — too many decline on hang-out offers might lead them to forget your existence in their lives. If you value the relationship, you gotta put in the hours and nourish it.
Luxury of Time.
It took me a little while to find my bearings, but as I go through life, I realized that the luxury of time is not just about having a plethora of hours to spend. For me, it’s about being able to deal with and nourish the different aspects of your life while still having the energy to give new experiences its chance.
Although, it may also come down to the circumstances of a person, so I asked my good friends on what’s their take on it.
Dean: Luxury of time is just a result of how you manage your time in a day.Aaron: My time is so precious that if I spend it with people that are not dear to me, I feel so fucking frustrated.Monica: Work work work. (I don’t know why we are still friends HAHA!)
Different perspectives. That I think the reason why it’s imperative to be crystal clear on your priorities so that when life confronts you with a choice between things — you’ll have an informed decision on which side you should give a damn.
So, what makes me any different?
In retrospect, feels like it stems from my mindset.
Thank you for reading!
Alvin Cris Tabontabon
An Asian man who codes to eat noodles