What if you didn't
have to be anywhere or do anything other than a few medical
appointments? Of course, you would still have maintenance tasks, but
not many. What would you do with all that time?
One of the central
tenets of minimalism is that you give up money for time to do what
you want to.
If you have some
overwhelming passion like painting or music or writing then you are
in heaven.
But what if like me,
you don't.
In the Army if you
got asked why you weren't doing anything the standard safe reply was
that you were AWF – awaiting further orders. We have been taught
since very early on by parents, teachers, officers, bosses, etc.
where to be, when to be there, what to do and for how long. In other
words, we have been taught to await further orders.
Suddenly there are
no orders to follow. This feels very weird. It can lead to a type of
paralysis. You are suddenly responsible for yourself.
At the moment, I am
confronting this problem.
I am 62, live alone
and have few nearby friends. On top of that I have never been a
joiner and don't have much money.
There are still a
lot of free or cheap activities out there that I might enjoy. But I
don't enjoy doing them alone.
So what to do with
all that time? So far I have joined a gym and attend it regularly. I
write this blog. But that's about it. That still leaves a lot of
time. There are books to read and movies to watch, but that can be
done to boredom.
I intend to solve
this problem. I'll keep you up to date on how as I figure it out.
Until then,
Mike
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