Free Time
I've been thinking. Am I the guy with the most free time in my group of friends?
This description sounds kind of pathetic, like I have nothing to do in my life.
It may be the case. Outside of work, I have very little obligations. There is the occasional movies, weekend gaming and the sports club I go to.
But most of the time, if someone proposes to do something fun, I'll be free, at least free enough to postpone any activities I had planed.
This, of course, does not happen with my friends. Not to the same extension.
So I began to think what is free time? Where does it come from? What causes it?
I came to believe that no one has actually free time. Generalization apart, some people may have obligations that take a lot of time, like 12 to 14 hours a day. Others may have times in their lives that they have no obligations whatsoever. But neither stand sitting on a chair looking at the clock and just plain watching time pass. Which would be the most pure concept of free time.
Instead, what happens is that everyone fills their lives with something that interests them. Even if it is sleep.
So when does free time come into existence? It does not!
There is no free time, free time is a subtle expression of priority.
We all know how I have a strict perception about priorities. How they reflect judgment upon people.
Free time is just a way of saying, "Doing this activity is more worthwhile than that one".
Think about this example. You play poker with friends every tuesday. But your girlfriend that lives in another town, has a week off and comes to visit you on a tuesday. You don't actually have free time, but you'll make time to go out with her. Which is a translation of, "I'd rather go out with my girlfriend that I rarely see, then play poker with the people I play every week.".
It is not a question about right or wrong. The thing is, people don't have free time, they just have things they'd rather do.
Claiming to have free time is just an expression of the amount of time you're willing to give up for an activity with your listener. It is generally the amount of time you have no level of priority assigned, and are therefore free to give any priority, or in the case nothing comes up, assign a default activity with which you fill your spare time.
Anyone has free time. Anyone can make it. People just limit this effort to people that are really important to them.