Leisure

Leisure

Ahh, leisure. Saying those words, I take a deep breath and instantly feel more peaceful. I wonder which is stronger, the refreshment from the oxygen hitting the brain or the mental associations with word itself?

Ahh, leisure. What an excellent topic for this month's magazine! So many of us run and run and run, if not literally, then figuratively. We're all trying so hard to be healthy, to be successful, to be somebody. But what good is a long life, money or status if we're not relaxed and happy?

Doesn't it seem most of us in the United States are chasing something that can never be caught? Wouldn't a slower pace make us happier and healthier? Wouldn't a little leisure in each day make life so much more enjoyable? Wouldn't longer vacations and longer lunch hours bring more quality to life? Isn't it time for a fundamental re-prioritizing of our values? Wouldn't we, as a country, be happier and healthier if we valued peace of mind above power, looks, status and money, for example?

Speaking about my own experience, I used to accept the standard programming that it was important to "succeed". This meant making good grades, going to a top-ranking college, working for a top company, and finally, making "top dollar".

Once started on this path, these values were naturally reinforced. Going to business school, and then MBA school, certainly strengthened the notion success was measured dollars, namely by your starting salary upon graduation. And of course we were expected to start two weeks later, with no time for, say, a vacation in Europe to see how people in other countries live.

Also valued highly was being hired by a large company with a good reputation. The larger the company, the more the status. If it was a Fortune 500 company, that was good, but a Fortune 50 company was "better". With a large company, or perhaps with one of the "Big Six" accounting firms, there would be security and opportunity for advancement. In other words, money and more money. Status and more status. Work and more work. Material success and more material success. Quality of life was talked about only in passing. Leisure was just a word in a book title by some German guy.

Fortunately I began to realize while still in MBA school that I valued my freedom more than a paycheck. I still remember clearly how unconventional my goals and values were. For example, once in a special discussion class on dual career couples, led by no less than the President of the business school and his wife, we were asked to state our career goals. Virtually each student expressed their goal in terms of how much income they wanted to be earning by a certain age. I think their goals of making a million dollars by age forty impressed our president. My goal was financial freedom. In other words, to be free from making money, not to be in search of making money. I didn't notice him being impressed.

After MBA school, I interviewed with a top management consulting firm, at which starting salaries were approximately $50,000 (1983 dollars). I was taken to lunch by consultant who drove a Porsche. I was definitely impressed with the Porsche. It was the first time this corn-fed boy from Indiana had ever been in one. But during the lunch I remember being shocked and completely turned off when he boasted about how the consultants worked 18 hour days and on the weekends and how they never took vacations. Shortly after that I remember hearing how a recent "recruit" with the same firm was "never home", according to his room mate. He was gone so often, I was told, that the other roommates had turned his room over to one of their friends!

I thought to myself, "What good is making all that money, if you don't have time to spend it?" Actually, by that point in my career I'd already decided I wanted to be self-employed one day. To me self-employment meant freedom, along with money and status. The ideal combination for a free-spirited, non-conformist business major.

So while I chased the almighty dollar, I always took time for myself. Working for one's self means no one dictates that you can only have 3 weeks of vacation. I worked hard when I worked, but I travelled extensively and I rode my bike through the streets of downtown Dallas when others were at their desks in their air- conditioned offices. I sat and watched the children run through the fountains. I investigated new territory. I hung out in the library. I camped in the hills of Arkansas and Oklahoma. I swam in the springs of central Texas. I watched the burnt orange sunsets over the hills of Austin, while enjoying hot sauce, chips and sweetened ice tea. These were the moments that I cherish. These are the moments I live for.

As I write these words, I wonder how many hours of leisure have been sacrificed so people could buy big houses with manicured lawns and Ethan Allen furniture. I wonder if those people would be happier and less compulsive and aggressive if they had more free time and less debt.

But what about you--Do you spend enough time on leisure? Or are your days, evenings and weekends full to the brim? Do you hate your job, then need to get away from it--but never for long enough? Are you a slave to demanding bosses or mortgages, car payments, and credit card bills? Or can you take off for a month if you want to?

Can you take advantage of the natural beauty of our own state? Florida is "the place where others choose to vacation every year", as a local author put it. The beaches, the bike trails, the islands, the Greek restaurants, the bookstores, the coffee shops, the fine white sand between your toes. We are in the midst of an abundance of opportunities for leisure. But are we availing ourselves of this abundance? I don't think so. Not at least in sufficient amounts.

Anywhere one looks, one can see examples of stress, anger, impatience. (If you need any convincing just watch the way others, and maybe even you, drive.) Just thinking of the traffic cause me stress!

Ahh, leisure. We all want it. We all need it.

I think I'll go for a bike ride now.

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