I've been reading
The 4-Hour Workweek by
Timothy Ferriss and despite its trite tag line the content is a very refreshing analysis of our American work culture. He has a lot to say in regards to outsourcing and the like, but I think the part I am enjoying most about the book is his understanding that life is not meant to be lived on the weekends or spent on a job that's only purpose is to pay the bills. There is so much more to experience beyond the 9-5... and then to slave away precious years in order to save the fun part of life for retirement just seems to fall so short of how this life might best be lived.
Each breath we take is such a gift... and yet I have never been given a guarantee that I'll get the typical 90 year life span, so why do I assume those years are mine? It's so easy for me to just work work work and get so involved in my little world that the bigger picture just gets completely out of focus. There is so much out there that I want to be so much more involved in, and this recent reading is helping to put my finger on defining what that might look like for me. I really and truly believe that the resources I've been given are not meant for me alone. My money, my time, and my gifts are to be used for the benefit of others and its exciting to think of how I might continue to grow in this.
My favorite of the read so far:
One cannot be free from the stresses of a speed- and size- obsessed culture until
you are free from the materialistic addictions, time-famine mind-set, and
comparative impulses that created it in the first place... Learn to slow down. Get
lost intentionally. Observe how you judge yourself and those around you. Chances
are it's been awhile. (Ferriss 236)
I love that! It reminds me of being in Hawaii, and what a foreign task it felt at first to embrace "island time." In the realization that I need more of that pace of time integrated in my life, I'm making an effort to break the mold once a week and not work on Tuesdays. It will be hard but I think that working out of rest will actually bring more efficiency into the days I do work. I'm going to do a test run for a month and let you know how it goes :)
Yesterday I spend the day down in SanO with my dad, enjoyed the surfing and loved how being out in the water just doesn't allow time to constrain me. I don't know what it is about the ocean but the site and smell of it just calm me from the inside out.
I have to admit that coming back in during low-tide wasn't the easiest thing but I will say that it was worth it.
Hope you are enjoying a new read, getting inspired, or simply are enjoying the moment!
