03-27-2009, 04:38 PM
Well, like I said, that's just my philosophy.
I have no regrets whatsoever over the tremendous number of hours spent on things like Everquest and World of Warcraft and bookshelves full of science fiction, fantasy and completely uneducational TV shows and movies. I can look back over my life, at all the time I've spent on gaming and books and so forth and think, "Damn. That was time well spent. Let's keep doing that!"
It's like my philosophy regarding my job: I want enough money to enjoy my free time and enough free time to enjoy my money. I wouldn't object to a bigger house and a yacht but I'm not going to sacrifice too much of my free time (or personal sanity) to try and get it.
So my advice is don't let "productivity-ism" drag you away from things you enjoy. Everything is a balancing act, of course. It's no fun losing your job and being a bum, I'm sure. It's probably hard to find good dreams on a dollar a day. But it's not all about "what do you have to show for it" either.
Cause when you're dead, you will have nothing to show for it sitting in your urn or whatever, regardless of what you did (perhaps you will have a nicer urn if you work really hard, whatever that's worth). You still want to set up the next generation to be as well off or better than you were, as that is also a good dream, but I think it's too easy to get caught up in a race that you don't need to be in.
Maybe the simple way to put it is to "stop and smell the roses". Sometimes it's roses. Sometimes it's shooting aliens in a video game. The roses aren't the point. The point is to always find the time to enjoy life, whatever that entails.
I have no regrets whatsoever over the tremendous number of hours spent on things like Everquest and World of Warcraft and bookshelves full of science fiction, fantasy and completely uneducational TV shows and movies. I can look back over my life, at all the time I've spent on gaming and books and so forth and think, "Damn. That was time well spent. Let's keep doing that!"
It's like my philosophy regarding my job: I want enough money to enjoy my free time and enough free time to enjoy my money. I wouldn't object to a bigger house and a yacht but I'm not going to sacrifice too much of my free time (or personal sanity) to try and get it.
So my advice is don't let "productivity-ism" drag you away from things you enjoy. Everything is a balancing act, of course. It's no fun losing your job and being a bum, I'm sure. It's probably hard to find good dreams on a dollar a day. But it's not all about "what do you have to show for it" either.
Cause when you're dead, you will have nothing to show for it sitting in your urn or whatever, regardless of what you did (perhaps you will have a nicer urn if you work really hard, whatever that's worth). You still want to set up the next generation to be as well off or better than you were, as that is also a good dream, but I think it's too easy to get caught up in a race that you don't need to be in.
Maybe the simple way to put it is to "stop and smell the roses". Sometimes it's roses. Sometimes it's shooting aliens in a video game. The roses aren't the point. The point is to always find the time to enjoy life, whatever that entails.