Spending TIme

“Do not confuse “duty” with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect.
But there is no reward at all for doing what other people expect of you, and to do so is not merely difficult, but impossible. It is easier to deal with a footpad than it is with the leech who wants “just a few minutes of your time, please—this won’t take long.” Time is your total capital, and the minutes of your life are painfully few. If you allow yourself to fall into the vice of agreeing to such requests, they quickly snowball to the point where these parasites will use up 100 percent of your time—and squawk for more!
So learn to say No—and to be rude about it when necessary. Otherwise you will not have time to carry out your duty, or to do your own work, and certainly no time for love and happiness. The termites will nibble away your life and leave none of it for you.
(This rule does not mean that you must not do a favor for a friend, or even a stranger. But let the choice be yours. Don’t do it because it is “expected” of you.)”
― Robert A. Heinlein

 

Years ago I realized that while money comes and money goes, that the main currency we have is our time and our attention. This gets affirmed to me daily when I see people doing anything possible to get money, including spending almost every moment they have. It’s true that money pays for food and shelter and our so called basic needs but any of our other needs such as companionship, love, relaxation, meditation and pursuit of enjoyment it is time that becomes the more valuable commodity. Yet so often we are spendthrift with our time, doling it out to everyone who asks or demands it leaving very little for ourselves. That’s ok if we are living the moments we spend on others and ourself, fulfilling our true selves (in Thelemic terms our true will). But if what we do with our time has no value than we are wasting that currency. We can do better.
Blessings, G

 

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Rise or FallRise or Fall? by G A Rosenberg

 

Crimson and AmythystCrimson and Amethyst by G A Rosenberg