/karen/

Wasting time

Monday, 22 October, 2007

Another week goes by. It's Monday night and I'm sitting in front of the computer. I've been sitting in front of the computer pretty much since I got home at around 5 o'clock. What have I been doing? Reading and replying to e-mails, catching up on about two weeks' worth of blog reading (how did Michael manage to write 54 posts in that period???), playing Scrabulous, taking pictures of my latest knitting projects to blog in the future (and now I am between knitting projects ... boohoo ...), messing around on Facebook and trying to blog. (Oh hang on, that's not 100% true: I also took in the laundry, put away the clothes and washed all the garments that had to be washed by hand.)

But I've decided not to feel guilty about wasting time anymore. I think sometimes it's good for your mental health. Unless you end up wasting all of your time; then you've got a problem and you should probably do something to figure out why you're doing it. Still, occasional time-wasting is okay. Well, that's what James Dobson says:

Husbands and wives should constantly guard against the scourge of over-commitment. Even worthwhile and enjoyable activities become damaging when they consume the last ounce of energy or the remaining free moments in the day. Though it is rarely possible for a busy family, everyone needs to waste some time every now and then—to walk along kicking stones and thinking pleasant thoughts. Men need time to potter in the garage and women need to pluck their eyebrows and do the girlish things again. But as I have described, the whole world seems to conspire against such reconstructive activities. Even our vacations are hectic: ‘We have to reach Eastbourne by dinner or we'll lose our reservations.’

I can provide a simple prescription for a happier, healthier life, but it must be implemented by the individual family. You must resolve to slow your pace; you must learn to say ‘no’ gracefully; you must resist the temptation to chase after more pleasures, more hobbies, more social entanglements; you must ‘hold the line’ with the tenacity of a tackle for a professional football team, blocking out the intruders and defending the home team. In essence, three questions should be asked about every new activity which presents itself: Is it worthy of our time? What will be eliminated if it is added? What will be its impact on our family life? My suspicion is that most of the items in our busy days would score rather poorly on this three-item test.

(James Dobson, Man to Man About Women, Tyndale House, Wheaton, p. 51.)

It is interesting that he says such time-wasting is “reconstructive”. Such activities refresh and reinvigorate us (well, maybe not plucking one's eyebrows!) So blogging will wait for another day ...

(And yes, I am very much aware of how much Dobson's last paragraph is preaching to me in particular! In my defence, I can say I am not nearly as tired as Michael; I only scored 6 on the Epworth Sleepiness Test! Speaking of sleepiness, time for bed ...)

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