Originally posted on Facebook HERE
I have to admit – I have a lot of “stuff”. But it never seems like I have any “time”. I have hundreds of books. I love seeing and being around books. I like actual books, too – sure, I have and use the Kindle and e- books, but – I like books. Real books made with paper. I have them all over the house. I read every day, but – I usually get around ten minutes a day to read. So – that comes out to 12-16 books/yr I guess. I’ll never get to all the books I have. I have a ton of musical gear – usually around 30-35 bass guitars, plus acoustic and electric guitars, amps and speaker cabinets, PA systems, two full drum sets, and don’t even get me started on pedals. I could lock myself in the music room for the rest of my life and never have enough time to really get through and understand everything I own. I’m lucky if I get out there one or two days a week to spend any time with it. We have a full gym at our house – treadmills, stepper, elliptical, free weights – everything you need, really, to work out every day. I go to a gym twice a week to workout with a trainer instead of using that stuff – because the appointment forces me to workout. No way I’ll go lift weights at 6:30AM without those appointments. These days, if I use anything at our home gym, it’s once or twice a month at most. We have bikes – and we have a basketball court at our house. I love to ride a bike, and I like to shoot baskets. I think I did each of those activities maybe once this year so far. I have all the gear I need to do yoga and all the meditation stuff I find helpful as well… lately I’ve only been doing yoga once a week – again with a trainer – and not using any of my stuff. So, what’s eating up all my time?… The way I see it – two things: work and what I’ll call “leisure activities”. Work is self-explanatory. If you own your own business, and want it to be successful – it takes a lot of effort. At some point it will start demanding attention. And lately – this is eating up a good portion of my time. It’s never really 100% off your mind, either. Work thoughts can lurk in the background, ready to pounce. It’s Sunday, but the things I know I have to do for work tomorrow (which is supposed to be a day off), are in there messing with my ability to relax. Then there’s “leisure activities”. Watching TV & surfing the internet mostly. I actually really enjoy both activities a lot. And, to me time spent having fun isn’t time wasted, either. I can beat myself up some days if, for example – I get home and it’s beautiful out, and I don’t go for a run even though it’s a perfect day for it. There’s always a give and take. I’m not sure anyone is ever really balanced. These days work is so busy it’s taking time away from things like running, yoga and meditation – that were daily rituals for me not that long ago. But I was really committed to getting to them every day back then, because I had made health – mental and physical health – a priority at that time. And when The Fusion Project finally releases our second album, we’ll start getting together to work on the third one. It’ll become a priority again. And once the 5th “Looking Out My Back Window” book is released (soon), I’ll have to make putting together the 6th book (already written) a priority. We all have demands on our time. We all have things laying around we might never get around to using. We all decide exactly what we’re focusing on and committed to, and this is where our moments are spent. And balance?… good luck with that. Seems to me that I usually have one or two things I’m focused on at any given time, and everything else takes a back seat. But once in a while, it pays to think about it – because, especially with something like work – it can start to take over, and that’s not always a good thing when you start missing out on opportunities to spend time on other things that could bring you a more meaningful life experience. Where do you spend the bulk of your moments?… are they full of joy as much as possible?… do you often feel overwhelmed with love and gratitude?… that seems to me to be the best way to judge if and when any changes need to be addressed… Wishing you all the best as you navigate this journey we call life.
