Killing Time

"Time is the most valuable thing one can spend." - Theophrastus (ca. 300 B.C.)

Theophrastus , how true your statement is. Time, indeed, is the most valuable thing one can spend. Today in our society (unfortunately) time has become a cheap commodity in some sense. We sell our time to our companies, or to our clients, for a certain value --> our wages.

How much do you sell your time for? My company sells my time for over $300/hour... what do you think?

I realised today that my time is far more precious and valuable than the sum that I receive in my bank account at the end of each month. I wish instead for my time to be filled with meaningful things, things that I enjoy, things that make me smile and be me. (with a shot or two, here and there - hehe). That is why I am always touched by people who give me some of their time for free.

Just like those who pass by my blog and write a nice comment on what I had written. Thank you strangers, or may I call friends, for giving me your time for free...

But.

Today, unfortunately, I did something sad -- I did not give my time for free. I "killed" time. I killed my personal time by getting annoyed at the taxi driver who just wouldnt shut up when I took that cab home late at night. I couldn't be bothered to smile at the lady serving coffee in the morning, or to say thank you. I pushed onto the train in the morning in front of a stranger, just so that I could get that seat.... I wasted valuable moments today: I could have had a conversation with the cabbie and found out something interesting about his life, I could have had a quick chat with the lady serving me coffee, I could have offered my seat to the person who was standing next to me on the platform, in exchange for a simple, warm smile....

But no.

I killed my time. And -- worse still -- I pawned the rest of it at a heavily discounted rate to my company (I am definitely in the red today) . My only saving grace was the 2.5hrs spent doing yoga and having a light dinner with my fellow yoga students and my teacher, Dan, from DKYoga. Dan and his business partner, Ken, are both, interesting individuals.

Today I took the time to find out that Dan is a vegetarian, which I had suspected from the first time that we all had dinner with the "crew" at a lebanese restaurant after our yoga class. I noticed that when Dan ordered, he emphasised the word "vegetables" at least three times. As a former vegetarian, you KNOW that someone is a vegetarian, especially in Tokyo, because they can't hide their enthusiasm about finding a "true" vegetarian restaurant. (Japanese restaurants put fish stock or "minute pieces" of dead flesh in every dish to "enhance" the flavour. Readers, did you know that some places fry vegetable tempura in 50% sesame oil, and 50% lard? Yuck!!)

Anyway.

I will write about Dan and Ken another day.... they are one of the more interesting people that I have met in tokyo -- or anywhere around the world. You don't meet people like that everyday. And I respect them not because they are my yoga teachers, but because of their very human side that they share with you. They always are happy to give you their time for free...

Tomorrow I will spend every nanosecond with care, and with a bit more sensitivity and mindfulness.

I'll be honest today: deep down inside, I want to write for a living... but am afraid to make that leap of faith. Maybe I should really think about making that transition from a suit with a blank face and a price tag to the real me, just as Dan and Ken did when they chose to become Yoga teachers....

Intreviews and observations about Dan and Ken to continue.....