I don’t have to… Regaining agency over time and energy
“… we ricochet from one thing to another, desperate to catch up, desperate that we never do, distressed by the wealth that is ours. What is real Freedom? If not the ability to choose?”
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Do you find yourself saying – I have to do this, I have to do that, I have to go xxx…? I notice this in myself, and it sounds as though we have no choice in our actions, in the obligations and responsibilities we have. The current of urgency and momentum and fear rushes us along… to where? To what? More activity, more work, more acquisitions, more knowledge, more enjoyment, more engagements, more obligations, more liabilities, more things. So we ricochet from one thing to another, desperate to catch up, desperate that we never do, distressed by the wealth that is ours.
The world today also conspires against us in this regard. In the overwhelm of resources, access and options before many of us, we are faced with the paradox of choice – in the overwhelm, so we can either get paralysed into inaction or enticed by choices that do not necessarily serve our well-being. And then we add the attention economy and the world of technology that is designed to consume whatever little time and attention we have left to spare.
What is real Freedom? If not the ability to choose? If not the clear-eyed prioritisation of time and energy and attention? This may be the true privilege of our time, the true privilege of enough.
This necessitates saying no. Greg Mckeown, who wrote the excellent book Essentialism, said that success means that you will have more opportunity than you have ability to utilise.
Mindfulness is key in helping us regain agency over our attention, our presence and our time. Watch out for more in Part 2 where I talk about how mindfulness helps us regain agency over the thoughts and feelings that drive us.
(P/S – Acknowledging the privilege that many of us have to be having this conversation. There are many out there who may not have the basics requisites of water, food, shelter and basic human rights. But for the rest of us, this exploration of choice and agency is an essential one for our well-being and life satisfaction.)
