I came across this post on social media yesterday, that bothered me enough to write about it:

Why this bothers me

Everything stated in this image is possible and yet the post is written in a way that implies that the author doesn’t believe they can, for example, enjoy cosy times at home and also socialise and travel. The flawed thinking here, i’m guessing, is that…. everything must happen on the same night? I mean why else would anybody assume that one must forego socialising and travel for cosy home times?

So, at the risk of stating the obvious, it is very possible to live a life during which you, on some days, indulge in homebound cosiness, and, on other days, socialise, and even otherer days, travel. Some days could very well include all three.

Buying all the things and saving money are also not mutually exclusive activities. Unless the author believes that they will only make one singular chunk of money that can either only be spent or be saved (and, what then? not ever used to buy something?).

In fact, even if one followed the outdated traditional idea of saving in order to accumulate, at some point that money will still be spent, hence buying things (whether those things are material or not). There is never a scenario in which one would save money that would not be used to buy something. At least, there shouldn’t be. There’s no real value to money that’s unspendable.

And finally the notion that if I eat whatever I want, I can’t be super fit also needs to be retired. Yes, if you aim to compete in the world bodybuilding championships, a more strict lifestyle and diet would be necessary. But if all you want to do is run up five flights of average apartment building stairs, your favourite foods don’t have to be given the chop. Maybe your favourite tv show, but not necessarily your favourite food.

More to meet the eye

Of course, like every meme, there’s always more context than just the words we see.

The actual implication here is that there isn’t enough time, money, nor energy to do all these things and more.

So let’s break that down and make it more meaningful.

Time

Time shortage is a real thing for people who are spending the majority of their time doing things they don’t want, often for the benefit of other people. Obviously these people have a time shortage! You only have 24 hours in any day. If you are spending even a minute on someone else, you are shorting yourself.

Valuing your time and choosing to dedicate more of it for your own pursuits, whether that is rest or adventure, is essential.

Money

Money is trickier for most people because they are already shorting themselves on the time that they’re spending doing things for somebody else who has promised some money in return. That’s still the prevalent economic model. Offer a service (including the creation of a product) and get a monetary reward.

But imagine if you spent your time doing what you want and made money anyway. If you’re serving others or creating tangible items, do it because it excites you to do so. Valuing your own worth means that you will only accept an amount of money that correlates with the amount of energy and time you’re expending. What would it take to get paid for being you?

Energy

While you do have a finite amount of energy, you certainly can be so efficient with your energy that it can seem infinite. The trick is to do more of what you want, and what therefore energises you. The more often you spend doing things you don’t want to do, the less energy you have available to do those things you do want. And that’s why, after years of working for other people, doing what they want, you want to cozy up at home and sleep for a few months.

It’s just capitalism

And, of course, the time and energy that people are already lacking are being spent on getting money through people and organisations that drain those same commodities. Nobody that you work for is interested in giving you more energy and time to do things that aren’t for them. That’s simply the way our capitalist structure is.

Money has been made to be more important than time and energy combined, and the masses have been conned into giving up their own natural time and energy in exchange for a few paltry dollars that don’t nearly make up for the effort put in. Fortunately, more and more are waking up to this fact.

There is time enough and energy enough and money enough to do whatever one wants to do, to spend your lives in a way that nourishes and uplifts and pleasures you. It starts with you turning things around and actually prioritising your own life over the lives of those you’ve dedicated your working hours to.

Again, taking lessons from this meme, it’s not an all or nothing strategy. You don’t have to quit your job before you figure out better ways to finance your life. You don’t have to start travelling before you’ve given yourself the necessary time to rest. You can do many things in the same days and weeks and months to come. As long as, over time, you’re weaning yourself off the activities and people who drain you, and increasing the amount of time and energy spent on the activities and with the people who nourish you.

Over a surprisingly short amount of time, with consistency, you will find yourself living more of a life in line with your desires instead of contrary to them.

Shape your life your way

It is easy to understand that if you were not spending so much time and energy on your work and the obligations you wish you didn’t have, you would have more on your hands.

Money, however, is what traps us. In order to make money, we give up our time and our energy. And, sadly, roughly 99% of the populace do this.

But there is also a tiny but growing percentage of humanity who are mostly living the life they want to live and have figured out ways to fund it. There’s no one size fits all solution, but the solutions inevitably involve getting paid to do the things that invigorate them.

So, while it is easy to complain about the lack of energy and time and money-making opportunities, it is also easy to make positive changes to your way of life so that you’re counting more of your blessings, rather than whining about what you can’t imagine yourself having and being and doing.

Or maybe it isn’t easy. Maybe it is difficult. Maybe it will be challenging. Is that any different to the difficulties and challenges you’re already facing?

Is the idea that “creating the life of my dreams is difficult” enough of a reason to not pursue such a life?