Building a framework for living #9 : A strategy to make a day well lived
It is a privilege to have an abundance of discretionary time and a privilege to be in a position having to consider among varied choices that we have in front of us and decide what we could do with the disposable moments.
If you are reading these words, you obviously have discretionary time and have made a choice to wander through the waterways of the internet searching for subject matters that interest you.
For some of us, the notion that we have discretionary time has now been internalized to the extent that it is a privilege is not immediately obvious.
But consider the following humbling facts.
There are billions of people on Earth living in the same timeline as us who do not have the luxury of discretionary time. For them, keeping their head above water takes all the time and resources their bodies and minds can muster.
I know that if you are living in certain parts of India, your day would be spent in storing water for your daily needs. To do that you might have to watch the clock because the tap water only comes for a couple of hours a day, or worse, you may have to visit the community water tap, wait in a line for your turn to fill two buckets of water and then haul them back home.
You also may have to go to the bazaar every couple of days to buy vegetables because you may not be able to store weeks’ supply in a refrigerator. And even if you do have a refrigerator, electricity is unreliable enough that you can ill afford to store consumables for a week only to find out that they got spoiled.
And then, for the same reasons you may have to prepare meals twice a day because summer temperatures will invite bacteria to have a feast, and the leftover lunch may turn stale by dinnertime.
I am sure that the same story repeats across a wide swath of people living in different corners of the globe.
While we are pondering over the luxury of discretionary time, let us not forget places like Ukraine where populations are living in a war zones, or people living in refugee camps, or those who are on the move to get away from the realities of political and financial hardships having dreams of living in better places to give their souls a bit of respite.
Looking back at the past of humanity, it is also not hard to see that only over 100 years back, most of the population living on the face of the Earth did not have the luxury of discretionary time. The work toll to keep the fire in the belly burning was all too consuming.
But enough of giving examples to bolster the argument that having time at our disposal is indeed a privilege and a luxury to have, and not everyone is privileged to have that privilege.
With that privilege comes the existential burden of making the right choices and using the time we have wisely.
It would be such a waste to squander what is gifted to us. It is a moral imperative to use the disposable time we have for a good purpose. Of course, there is no law out there, or some police state watching to make sure we do that, but deliberately ignoring things that could benefit us is against the evolutionary imperative.
How unfortunate would it be to afford to buy the 1996 vintage of Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs and then just guzzle it down without appreciating its olfactory and gustatory pleasures? The same goes for what we do with our discretionary time.
Would it not be unfortunate for us to spend the limited hours of disposable time we might have on watching TV or just skimming through bottomless feeds at some of the websites without having a clear purpose in mind?
On the other hand, what could be a better use of discretionary time than putting it to use in such a way that it makes our life well lived. Or to reach that goal, use it in a way to make our days well lived.
Making choices that allow us to reach the goal of a life well lived requires us to be intentional in making those choices.
One could opt for the path of least resistance and watch TV all day. Given its intellectual ease, it could also become a habitual choice, but that is not going to get us to our goal.
To get there, we must step back, evaluate the choices we have on how to spend our time, weigh them against how they stack up in bringing us closer to what we want our day to be, and then be intentional in making selections.
It is all too attractive to go with the easier choice for lesser goals. Initially making international choices could be a bit tasking but like all habits, it gets easier with time and rewards are worth the effort.
So, making a day well lived begins with cultivating the habit of making intentional choices. It all starts from judiciously exercising the privilege of discretionary time we are privileged with.
Ciao.
Summary:
1. It is a privilege to have an abundance of discretionary time.
2. With that privilege comes the existential burden of making the right choices and using the time wisely.
3. In making choices that would make our life well lived requires us to be intentional.
4. So, making a day well lived begins with cultivating the habit of making intentional choices.
Related:
Building a framework for living #1: Becoming aware of mortality
Building a framework for living #2: The basic premise for its need
Building a framework for living #3: Follow the advice from stoics
Building a framework for living #4: The basic principles
Building a framework for living #5: Working with the fundamental unit that makes a life
Building a framework for living #6: The alchemy of fulfilling days
Building a framework for living #7: The yardstick for fulfilling days
Building a framework for living #8: What makes a day anyway?
