I started taking more interest in caring about others.
It's like... I bother to ask my wife, my mum, how's their day, what they've been doing, etc...
Personally, I feel it's better. I never noticed it until recently.
I hear stories from my wife about her work, or what my mum has been doing in her weekly routine, etc.
I'm interested in their lives, how they are doing and stuff like that.
Previously this was never the case. I never really listened to their stories or woes.
When I was still working, I always had something else on my mind. The next project, how to maneuver around certain things, politics, whatever. It's always been, I have enough stuff that I'm thinking about, don't bother me with your issues, just go settle it yourself. I'm not really interested.
Then after I left, all these other issues disappeared and there's more bandwidth to care for others, to be there when someone else requires a listening ear. It's pretty interesting really. Cos it's like de-cluttering my mind and making space for other things. And for me, I like it. I like the burden removed and now I have time for my family and friends. Not just meeting up with them, but rather having mental bandwidth to listen and understand their stories.
I now understand why parents ask their kids, how was school, how was work, what did you eat, etc etc. It's somewhere in between, there's more mental capacity to care for others and there's nothing going on with my life, so how's your life going along?
But I enjoy it, it makes me feel like a nicer person, cos I used to brush off my wife's concerns as "her own work problems" so just settle them herself, I have my own issues to think about.
Like now I look forward to weekends cos I enjoy more time with my wife, we can go out and play. Previously, I looked forward to weekends cos there's no work and I can stop thinking about stuff, then Sunday quickly comes along and spoils my mood.
I do appreciate not rushing around so much. It used to be rush to work, rush through work, then rush home to eat, then quickly bathe and change and rest and then go and sleep, then repeat. And I used to only look forward to weekends and holidays.
Now, when I wake up, I send my wife to work, come back, do the chores, think of what I want to cook, type my posts, go out buy stuff and prepare, type more posts, maybe meet some friends, pick my wife up... life is a lot more fun. There's more time to think about other things.
It's not only that I have more time to spend with others, but rather more mental capacity to be aware of other things.
It's pretty interesting, cos I never thought about it that way before. As much as I don't have much stuff at home and try to keep my home free from clutter, I never realized that the mind is also very much similar. After removing the clutter, there's more space for more meaningful stuff, better relationships with friends and family, less distractions from work related issues.
Of course this is not without cost. Like I've posted many times before, there's always some insecurity, financial, social, etc.
But I do like this mental freedom, even if I go back to part time work or contract work next time, I think I would likely be better equipped to handle any future mental clutter. The idea that mental clutter from work is so transient and that it can just disappear so easily makes it seem so... frivolous...
It's like, friends and family will always be around and I should spend more time with them and care about how they are doing, whereas work related issues typically just disappear when changing jobs or after retiring.
It really makes me more aware of mental clutter and how to manage it as things change in future.
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