There is a certain amount of time that one is allowed to waste each day in the pursuit of personal pleasures. More often than not, this time is utilized for what many would simply term “relaxation.” This empty time of leisure is to an extent fruitless. Conversely, there are those among us who seemingly work endlessly; still, that endeavor may be just as empty as sitting and doing nothing.

Life is very short when compared to the expansiveness of time; yet, we waste away what little moments we have doing very much useless things. That is to the outside observer. Sometimes, it is seen that way by us. In the end, what is it that we accomplish through these unhurried and unstructured hours?

Maybe the question should be, why do we do it? Some find their comfort in those segments of the days, weeks, months, or years. That comfort of losing one’s thoughts and shifting one’s mind to other things. Many find their reassurances at the bottom of a bottle or in the form of some other chemical self-medication. The goal would seem to be physical pleasure, or is it mental blankness? Others may find it better to keep their thoughts busy by doing other things. Perhaps it is a book, music, or television. Likely, for both, it is some-thing enthralling enough to direct the mind’s attention; that attention being focused, for a time, on one thing.

However, it simply does not work because thought is not so simple. The problem is that our minds don’t turn off. They churn what information is gathered from the senses. It is examined, stored, and reexamined. It is forgotten and remembered. Worst of all, the mind fixates. A single memory can become a lifetime of thought. Its weight, overbearing. Its size, enough to encompass all being.

All this comes in the light of a posited question: has the time we spend for our work or leisure overtaken us? Addiction is defined mostly by a compulsive behavior that interferes with one’s life. It is the chronic wanting, seeking, and exercise of some thing that is harmful solely by its use.

It is us who are addicted to wasting time. To the pursuit of nothing more than watching life’s flame burn out slowly, dimly, without much fuss. The alternative is to make use of that time to better one’s self.

What does it mean to be better than one’s self? It would seem that many have the answer with regard to others, not to themselves. There lay the problem in this line of thought. Who really knows what should be done with our time? What fruit will be the results of our expenditures, and what costs will be wrought? Some would say it should be measured by the end results for all. Another would say it should be weighed by the personal gains.

All may have a preference, but that doesn’t change anything. Whether the goal is right or the gain is good leaves us with only another matter of contention. Perhaps, things should just be taken as they are, and the lot of us should simply carry on.

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In other news: After better than a month I’ve made a new blog header.