Tick…Tock…Tick…Tock

I was speaking with a friend the other day and one thing that kept coming up in our conversation was time.  This person, as do I, focuses on really taking advantage of all of the time given to them.  Time is our most precious gift and I know that at times (pun intended) many of us forget this. 

We trade time for many things, money being the most popular.  Then we spend this money on other things that occupy our time.  So we trade time doing something we may not enjoy for time doing something that we may enjoy.  Really sitting back and thinking about this makes me wonder if this makes any sense at all…Obviously there are situations where people enjoy their jobs or enjoy doing whatever it is they do for money.  So for them the sacrifice of time isn’t as drastic.  But for many others, whom hate their jobs or just don’t enjoy it, this trade can be quite detrimental.  Me…I enjoy my job.  But I also don’t have to sacrifice as much time as others.  Plus my time is spent in my home and not at a traditional “office”.  I am lucky in this regard.  So if we trade our time working for money, why don’t we spend more time outside of working doing things we actually enjoy, or really taking advantage of Life!

Lets break down time…

We have 24 hours in each day.

7 days in each week.

365 days each year.

52 weeks in each year.

The average life expectancy for a person is about 78 years.

We spend anywhere between 7-8 hours sleeping each night.

For the sake of simplicity I’ll say the average adult works 40 hours each week and gets 1 week off per year.

The math…

8 hours of sleep each day * 7 days a week = 56 hours.

80 hours of work in 2 weeks.

112 hours of sleep in 2 weeks.

2920 hours of sleep each year.

2040 hours of work (minus the 1 week off).

2920 + 2040 = 4960 hours each year spent sleeping and working.

8760 hours total in each year – 4960 = **3800 hours of “free time” in a year**

3800 * 78 years = **296,400 hours of “free time” in an average lifetime**

Forgive my math breakdown above…but breaking down the math helps me visualize time better being the very logical and analytical person that I am.  As shown above, a person whom has a full time job and averages 8 hours of sleep per night will have 3800 hours to do what they want each year and they may have 296,400 hours in their lifetime.  These do not subtract travel time to and from work or any location, cleaning ourselves, or any other activity that takes 15-30 minutes here and there.  So the actual totals are much smaller.  

These hours may seem massive.  But they are not once compared to the time we trade doing things we must do like sleep or earn money.  

What we choose to use our “free” time on should be considered more valuable to us than what we are trading our time for doing work, sleep, etc.  If we reminded ourselves of how precious time is we wouldn’t trade it for just anything or to spend it with just anyone.  We would require that thing or person to mean a lot to us.  Instead we trade times for many things that do not benefit us in anyway.  Why do this?  If you knew you had 1 year to live exactly from today what would you do with your time? Would you spend any of your time watching TV? Would you be spending 8 hours each week day working? Would you sleep 8 hours a night? Would you not keep in touch and build relationships with your family, friends, and loved ones? Would you travel the world, country, or outside of your comfort zone?  Would you not appreciate all the little moments in your life spent doing the “little things” like enjoying a good meal or conversation with another human?

These are things that many of us don’t think about.  We spend a lot of our time earning money, but what do we do with that money…do we spend it traveling the world to experience new cultures and meet new people, do we spend it helping others in their lives, do we spend it on friends and family, do we use it for entertainment…the list goes on.  Many of us spend our time getting a higher education so that we may earn higher amounts of money for our time.  But, earning more money doesn’t make the trade easier because many of us compound our expenses and don’t get full use out of the more money we are earning.  

Lets not waste time…I’ve thought about potentially using another word here instead of waste.  But I want it to be clear that time is precious, therefore waste fits for me.  Don’t waste your time in a job that isn’t either providing you with the joy of being at that job or the income to do many other things you enjoy supplementing not enjoying the job.  Don’t waste your time with friends or in relationships that aren’t mutually beneficial.  If someone isn’t helping you in some way, shape, or form, they are hurting you.  The best relationships are about helping each other not bringing one another down.  Surround yourself with people whom want to build each other up and have similar goals and ambitions as you.  Surround yourself with people whom also appreciate your time and understand how precious it is to you and their selves.   

Some people learn in their lives how precious time is and begin to take advantage of all of the wonderful moments life has to offer.  Others don’t realize how precious life is unfortunately until it is too late.  I choose to enjoy the moments in my life to the best of my ability.  Of course it’s all about balance (I’ve blogged about this before), so I’m not quitting my job (yet) to travel around the world living out of a backpack.  But I am doing my best to travel to as many new places that  I can, meet new people and build relationships with them, work on my current relationships with friends, family, and loves ones, and enjoying and embraces all the moments in my life good and bad.  These are things to me that are worth my time.  What is worth your time?

Fred

Approaching the 3-0

It’s definitely been a while since I’ve taken time to post some thoughts on here.  My thought process has been quite active but I haven’t had that overwhelming urge to share many of these thoughts until now.  A thought that has had a constant presence in my mind is my perspective on my life and how I approach many situations now.  My perspective has evolved after having the amazing experience of traveling to Cambodia and being back home almost saddens me.  Let me explain…I have regular thoughts of how people are living in Cambodia knowing a little about what they have experienced. This has humbled me greatly.  I am a very fortunate person who has been able to achieve many things in life that some people will never experience or even have a chance of experiencing.  I’m not just talking about driving (nice) cars, traveling around the world, or having a well paying job.  It’s the things that we consider simple that others yearn for….running water, eating regularly, traveling more than a few hours away from the place you were born, being able to experience other cultures and places, a roof over our head, and stability.  Over these past few months I have been focused on really appreciating everything that I am able to have in my life especially the simple things. 

Life is tough.  But one thing that I think many of us forget is we don’t have as tough a life as many others do across the world.  If we learn to appreciate the simple things that we are able to have on a more consistent basis we will only improve as people.  This will start a ripple in your life that will allow for a greater appreciation for many things leading to a greater appreciation for your life in general.

As I approach my 30^th birthday I find myself less and less excited about that day.  Instead I’m becoming more excited for everyday that I am able to wake up and appreciate the people who I have been fortunate to meet and have relationships with, the job that provides me with flexibility to do many things outside of work, a healthy body that allows me to be able to still play sports, a wonderful family that has always supported me, great friends that don’t always tell me what I want to hear, and living in a great city that is very diverse and allows me to meet new people and experience many other cultures.  This list could go on and on, but I’ll leave it at that.  

I hope that soon I will once again be able to travel abroad because I know that these experiences will only help me in my life journey.  Opening our minds to others and their experiences only enhances our mind and perspective.  Life’s a journey…embrace every moment of it.

Fred

Cambodia Trip Day 2

On to day 2...I had been anticipating how the first morning in Phnom Penh would feel and it didn't disappoint. We woke up quite early and I was feeling very refreshed after a full nights sleep in a bed as appose to the sleep we had on the airplanes seats en route. I sat on the balcony for a few while enjoying the cool morning weather and listened to the city speak to me for a while.

The plan for the day was to tour the killing fields, the genocide museum, and then the Russian market. After a quick bite to eat we boarded our tuk tuk and we were en route to the killing fields. It was quite a long ride via the tuk tuk and dusty also. Luckily I had my buff headband and could over my nose and mouth during the ride. We were constantly being passed my motos (motorcycles), cars, trucks, and the occasional garbage truck. Yes it was foul. Again I was amazed by the organized chaos of driving in Phnom Penh, but our driver Sam seemed to navigate the streets with ease. We were shocked when we reach an intersection with a stop light...but Sam decided he didn't want to stop and just cut through the gas station on the corner. During our ride to we past rice paddy fields, many small stores, and many people along the road selling goods trying to make a living. This would hit me harder during our ride back from the killing fields.

Once we reached our destination Sam dropped us off out front and he would wait for us until we were ready to leave. As we approached the gate we were greeted by older men missing limbs asking for money. This was the beginning of the sadness that I would feel for the next few hours. We entered the gates and paid our $5 admission fee. I couldn't help but feel a sense of something in the air. Its very hard to describe, but everyone was very quiet as they walked around touring the fields listening to the virtual tour guides. We made our way from point to point as instructed by our virtual guides and learned of the terrible genocide of 3 million Khmer people (Cambodians). About 17,000 were killed at this location during a 4 year period by the Khmer Rouge regime and I will not go into detail as to how the deaths were described to me. All I will say is that I was very nauseous after our tour. The sadness that came over me while I learned how almost a third of the population was killed is indescribable and the fact that this occurred somewhat recently saddened me more. I guess it affected me more because of knowing that some of the people whom committed these acts are still alive and that the families that were affected by this are alive also. Its not as if the story has been told from 2 or 3 generations before. The generation whom this affected is still alive today. Its crazy to see so few older people around the city due to this genocide. I can count on both of my hands how many people over 60 or 70 I've seen in our short stay here so far and I can't help but wonder the things they may have experience during this tragedy. Maybe the pictures I shot during this tour can provide a better look into the atmosphere of the killing fields...I will post them once we return.

Once we were done with the tour both of us were hungry so we asked Sam to take us somewhere to eat on the way to our next destination. I have to admit it was hard to think about eating due to the nausea from the tour. During our ride back into the heart on Phnom Penh I couldn't help but have a greater respect for the Khmer people as we past their shops and stores on the tuk tuk. These people had endured so much and now are moving on in an attempt to improve their country. Its hard for me to imagine the feeling I would have if my entire family was killed. I'm not sure I would be able to function let alone move on with my life. The trip to lunch was quiet as I am sure we both were absorbing the magnitude of the event that we had learned about. But after a short ride we reached our lunch destination and it was time for some good food.

We were not disappointed by lunch and so far every meal we have had has been a good one. Its still amazing to me that these places can serve such inexpensive food yet be so tasty. I am learning that in Cambodia cheap does not necessarily mean not good...matter of fact one of our best meals was probably one of the cheapest we have had. After our meal we were off to the Russian markets which was conveniently a few blocks up the road. Sam offered to drop us off closer since we had hired him for the day.

The Russian market is essentially a flea market where people sell goods and food. The setup reminds me of a maze and after making are way through the walls of clothes, shoes, carvings, jewelry, etc. we found that we didn't know which way we had entered. Again, the people were kind as they asked you to buy something from their shop. I didn't feel hounded in any way as I have in other places I have visited. This felt good. We approached the food area and I could a see the arrangements of dried fish hanging, which smelled quite bad, meats hanging, fruits , veggies, and vendors cooking food fresh as people ordered it. We both have been tempted to try food in the market or some of the street food but I am nervous about the potential of having any stomach problems. Some of the food looks and smells fantastic and I'm sure I will try some street food before our trip is over. We found our way back to the road then called Sam and gave him our location so he could pick us up. We both were worn down from the tour and walking around the market so we decided not to visit the genocide museum and we headed back to our hotel to relax by the pool and unwind. We paid Sam his fee of $20 and thanked him for his services for the day.

It was nice to relax, write, and balance myself after that mornings activities. We had plans later to have dinner with the Cody's again then after we were going to walk around the riverfront area then maybe hit up the casino.

After relaxing for a while it was dinner time and we boarded another tuk tuk and were en route to meet the Cody's for dinner. Tonight dinner was at the Chinese Noodle Restaurant and it was another great meal. The noodles, which are made fresh and pulled by hand, were some of the best that I have had and the dumpling were tasty also. The meal again was very inexpensive. Grand total for all 6 of us was $21 and I was stuffed. I can already imagine how hard it may be going out to eat once we get back home and seeing the prices...I'm getting spoiled here.

After dinner we were picked up by another tuk tuk and headed to the river front area of Phnom Penh. There was happy hours, children playing in the park along the river, a night market with goods and food, and a many other things going on along the river. We walked around to get a feel for the night scene then we decided to head to the casino and see how the poker tables looked.

Nagaworld casino was nice. Not too busy and a few poker tables going that evening. We didn't end up playing but decided that we would come back the next day and see if we could put in a good session at the tables. The players didn't seem that good and we both feel like we could do well if we sat down and played. So we'll see how it goes tomorrow...

It was a long day and I was feeling emotionally and physically tired so it was time to head back and rest for tomorrows activities. Another great day in Phnom Penh...

Fred

Cambodia Trip Day 1b

After we boarded our taxi to our hotel and began the drive it became apparent that driving in Phnom Penh was organized chaos. A mixture of mopeds, motorcycles, bikes, tuk tuks, cars, and trucks all making their way around the city. Many of the intersections operate without traffic lights...everyone just slowly makes their way across narrowly missing each other and preventing collisions. I haven't figured out yet if anybody has the right away but every driver seems to know what to do and when to do it. I forgot to add that this all happens with people crossing the road and drivers driving the wrong way on the wrong side of the road in an attempt to make the upcoming left turn...because this is the best way to make a left turn LOL. We reached our hotel, Manor House, and it is situated off a main road in a great location in Phnom Penh. We were greeted by the manager and the owner before being shown to our room where we would stay during our 3 days in Phnom Penh. The room was nice with a big bathroom and plenty of space for us to spread out. There's also a nice pool in order to cool off from the warm days spent traveling around the city. But we didn't want to spend too much time around the hotel just yet as we were ready to explore the city before our bodies realized it was day time and its supposed to be night.

We started out getting a little turned around while walking and finding our way from the hotel. There aren't many street signs and many of the building look strikingly similar to each other. As we were walking and making our way toward the Sap river it was still amazing to me how the Cambodian people made their way through the city. I saw many close calls on the roads but no accidents...hopefully I won't see any during our stay here. Crossing the street for ourselves became easier and easier while reminding me of playing Frogger as a kid. I think my skills from that game helped me avoid the vehicles while the streets...not to mention my blazing speed LOL. Our stomachs began to growl and it was time for our first of many meals in Phnom Penh. Dim Sum it is.

Our first meal consisted of an assortment of dumplings and dough balls, and was one the best things I've eaten in a while. Can't go wrong with eating good food along the river in a new location. However, it was only a snack though because we had plans to meet with friends for dinner soon. So the fat kid inside me would have to wait...We paid the $15 for our food and made our way along the river towards the national museum. The life of the city amazes me and the Cambodian people are fascinating. They smile at you not only wanting your business but greeting you to be friendly. Even when you turn them down they say say thank you as you walk away. It is tough not giving kids money as they walk up and attempt to sell you books, movies, pictures...I can't imagine what I would have done as a kid in a situation similar to theirs. Americans are very fortunate and many of us do not remind ourselves enough of this fact.

Our stomachs began to growl again as we made our way past another restaurant and since our plans had been pushed back another hour or so we decided it was time for meal number 2. We weren't disappointed...my fried noodles with prawns was excellent and I washed it down with fresh coconut juice. All for a grand total of $11 for both of us...can't beat it.

The sun was setting as we met with friends for dinner (yes meal number 3), and my body was telling me it was time to rest...I guess it finally figured out we weren't on east coast time anymore. I enjoyed the dinner with the Cody's even though my eyelids were getting quite heavy at the table and after dinner during our quick trip through the city at night it became very apparent it was time for rest.

We made our way back to Manor House and it was I was ready to get some much needed rest after traveling for over a day and spending some time getting acquainted with Phnom Penh...

Fred

Thoughts From Today

I’ve been really slacking on writing in my blog. But I’m not going to make any excuses though. As always there are many things that make an appearance in my mind that I would like to write about. Many of these things could be controversial and I tend to not to express those thoughts to many people. One of the reasons why I tend not to have those conversations with others or write them in my blog is because I know that a lot of people aren’t open minded enough to attempt to understand my perspective or understand an idea that is not the norm. As I have said many times, I am traditionally nontraditional and I work hard to understand others perspectives even if I disagree. Many people feel like they have to agree with someone/something in order to understand them/it, but I feel as though that is not true. Too me, this is a common problem amongst our culture. If we would practice a little more understanding and/or empathy for each other we wouldn’t have many of the problems that we have today. Our culture reminds me so much of crabs in a barrel…which is extremely sad and who knows if/when this will change.

Fred

29

Another year has gone by and I am a year older and wiser. At least I tell myself I’m wiser LOL. I’ve had some great experiences over this past year and I’m thankful for having the opportunity to experience those things. Although I am one year closer to being “the big 3-0”, as some people would say, it doesn’t bother me. I try my hardest to have a different perspective than most about life. Every year and every day that I am allowed to spend ten toes down is a great day. I’ve seen people lose their lives very young and very old and I know that any day could be my day. So I remind myself often to take advantage of my time on this Earth and try to experience as much as I am able to. It’s not always easy to push yourself to do those extra things because it’s easy to become complacent and comfortable in your everyday life. There is nothing wrong with becoming complacent and comfortable, but for me it is not ideal. There are too many people to meet, too many places to see, too many cultures and societies to learn about, etc. I will push myself to experience as many of them as I can. The next trip plans are in the works and hopefully will be ironed out soon but it will be a blast!!!

On that note…I’m off to enjoy the rest of the night with some great food and entertainment by the Blue Man Group. Should be a great time!!!

Fred

Another Fiscal Year In The Dust

Ahhhhh…fiscal year 2011 is in the books and for once I finished early. YES!!! It was nice to be able to relax for a week and not have to worry about getting any work done. I spent all week relaxing, working out, catching up on reading and playing just a little poker (OK maybe more than a little LOL). After grinding out work for 12 months a week off (at least) is needed in order to recover from the grind and mentally prepare for the next fiscal year.

On another note, I finished another book this week. The book was Read ‘Em and Reap by Joe Navarro. The book explains poker tells and observing people in poker and in life. I consider myself a keen observer of people and my observation skills were tested many times this week playing poker. I made great observations a few times and it felt GREAT! But I also lost focus a few times and missed information (tells) on people during a few hands and it cost me. But the lessons are learned and I do feel as if my observation skills in life and at the poker table have improved after reading this book.

This week it’s back to work and the day to day grind. But, definitely looking forward to next weekends get away to Orlando for my birthday. Should be a lot of fun!

Fred