Time changes everything except something within us which is always surprised by change.
- Thomas Hardy -
I lost time today, an hour to be exact although I don't mind too much; it means summer is on the way and with longer days that happen naturally and daylight saving time initiated it'll be light through to around 21:00 each evening soon and that'll allow me to get more done outside. Losing the time, putting the clocks forward by an hour, means an hour of lost sleep although I'll make that up at the other end when daylight saving time ends in around six months.
Losing time isn't something I like doing and whilst I understand that I cannot stop it, I also understand that making the most of the time I have is preferable to wasting any; life is short I guess, although to younger people it may not seem that way. So, I work around the premise that my time is important enough to wring the most out of it. This doesn't mean I'm on the go all the time as I believe that even should it seem I'm wasting time, if wasting that time is enjoyable then it's not a waste of time; Bertrand Russell said something similar back a long while ago.
So, I'm looking forward to the coming months and the really cool thing about losing that hour today was that I gained a whole day also. It's a long weekend here so I have Monday off and that makes me happy; a huge gain like that offsets the small loss.
I woke pretty early today, chowed down on a simple breakfast of Vegemite on toast and coffee and then headed into the city to buy some runners.
I've been putting off the chore as I don't really like shopping or going into the city but as my last pair of runners are a little raggedy so I decided I should get it done. I'm not into the brightly coloured ones and am a little partial to the Asics brand. I found a pair that worked well with my orthotic insoles and in about ten minutes from entering the store I was done. They were on sale at $79AUD down from $120AUD so I ended up buying two pairs which means I'll not have to go back for a while.
It was a legit weather day today, around 23°C and sunny, so I parked a couple kilometres from the city centre and walked in. Again, there's that making use of time thing in action.
I figured if I had to be there I might as well take a walk also. I did a loop of the river from the zoo to the weir at the other side of the city before I walked up into the shopping district to get my runners so I didn't have to lug them about afterwards. It was a nice walk; there were loads of people taking advantage of the weather and it felt like spring for the first time this year. We've had a miserable first month of spring with loads of rain. Today though, it was legit.
On the way home I headed to the supermarket for supplies as I decided to have a Koran-style BBQ tonight. If you're not aware, a Korean BBQ is one where the BBQ is placed in the middle of the table and the meat is grilled by each person individually. It's really cool and very social because no one has to slave away in the kitchen; there's some cutting up of course, but from there everyone does their own thing sitting right at the table.
I bought chicken, salmon, tiger prawns and salt and pepper calamari (squid) as the meats, and an assortment of vegetables also. All will be cut thinly and placed on a large platter, and then people just cook what they want as they want it. I have white rice to serve with it and the right dipping sauce which my Japanese sister in-law hooked me up with. (I can't read the labels.) This will be the first BBQ I'll have under my new pergola and I'm really looking forward to it.
Afterward there's a Formula One Grand Prix which I'll be watching live from Singapore. I'd usually be there in person but due to extenuating circumstances wasn't able to this year.
Monday is a public holiday here as I said above and I'm planning a drive and picnic. I grabbed the stuff at the supermarket today, mainly cold cuts, cheeses, olives, dips and crusty bread with a few other little things here and there. The plan is to head up to the Adelaide Hills and see where the road leads. This time of year the Mount Lofty Botanical Gardens usually look pretty good so I might end up there, wander about, eat lunch and take a snooze under a tree.
I'm planning to do stage two of a Lego Technic build I started a few weeks ago as well, but I'll see how that goes as I might not be in the mood after an active day of wandering, picnicking and snoozing under trees.
Most of my life is behind me and sometimes I look back and consider how I've spent it. The great thing is that I've had this chase life ethos for a long time so looking back rarely holds any regrets. Sure, I did things I regret now, but I was just acting as I saw fit at the time and based on my understanding at that moment, but generally I'd say I've used my time well.
That understanding helps me find value in the moments I live every day, the present time. It also helps me work on the future and that helps mitigate any sadness around the fact that one day I'll simply die and that'll be the end of time for me.
So, I don't look at the past as time lost and it isn't something I lament because it's simply been my life. Conversely, I make the most of time, the present, and that means day by day and hour by hour because...well, because it's my life and I only have one.
That's my weekend in a nutshell although I've not listed everything I did or will do; some things don't need to hit the blockchain. It's been good so far though and there's more to come. I hope you've found something enjoyable to do and have had some time to yourself to chase life a little and get the most out of it. Feel free to tell me about it in the comments below if you'd like.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised so be humble and kind
All images in this post were taken by me, today.
