There is More Than I Can Do.

All the time.

When I tell myself I don't have time to do something it is because I decided to do something else earlier. I thought, at the time, it would be more important, or more fun than the other options before me. It always comes down to the fact that I must choose what I will and won’t do because of the pesky problem of time. I just don’t have time to do everything.

If I did have time to have my cake and eat it too, I would be godlike. I can’t say for certain that I would be God himself, because frankly, I don’t know how he operates outside the little he has permitted me to understand. So let’s settle on this. I would be superhuman.

Technology often offers me superhuman options. With a little down and easy monthly payments, I too can automate the mundane chores in my life. No longer is it necessary to teach people to think too much because artificial intelligence is here to save the day. Why memorize multiplication and division tables when we have cheap calculators that can take us way beyond these activities?

But there is a price for technology we often do not factor in. It is losing the ability to do repetitive, yes, even boring things well. It’s easy to talk about the concept of patience, but what it really means, when we boil it down to its essence, is the ability to remain calm and content sweeping a floor, washing a car, mowing a lawn, and even walking long distances without listening to music or people talking through inner ear devices.

Addictions are chemical escapes out of a stunted thought life. I’m not speaking just about addictions to chemicals, but they are included. I am talking about those biochemical transmitters behind all the activities of our brains. They can be hijacked by the addictive pleasure centers nested up there somewhere. Take the phone app version of solitaire for example. There is something about “winning” at some mindless game while waiting in line that draws me to “play again.” It’s the same with video games, short videos on YouTube as well as movies. Sure, some movies are themed appropriately and even have good endings and great life-lessons – and still, they may not be the best use of time.

Learning a language, practicing an instrument, reading a book, writing a letter, visiting a friend or someone who needs a friend, are all good things to do, but are often not started because, we just don’t have the time.

When it comes right down to it, it is all a matter of priorities, and sometimes, the boring activities have the strongest payoffs in the end.