You know that feeling.
You’ve spent the last few hours working to make something, organize it, shape it and you see the results of your efforts bearing tangible fruit. Doesn’t really matter if you’ve been out in the hot sun working with the land, building something from raw materials, or you’ve been hunched over a desk tapping away at a keyboard all day to write something up.
It’s the end of the day and you’re exhausted. But you go to bed with a feeling of satisfaction, a feeling that no matter what else happens that you’ve created something with your brawn and your brain and that thing now has a definable shape and it’s real.
On the other hand, you’re out with your friends for a fun night out on the town. You’re staying way past your normal time, almost certainly imbibing some sort of alcohol, possibly inhaling second-hand smoke. You dance, walk round, sit on uncomfortable stools, get a ringing in your ear from too loud music, and come back home anywhere between 1 and 5 AM.
You hit the sack and you’re just as tired but do you feel that good tired feeling from having accomplished something? Is there something physical out there to show that you did something actual or is it just the detritus of a long unproductive night?
That’s something I’ve noticed over the years. Way back when, in my mid twenties, when I would go out on a weekend and the next morning look in my wallet and think to myself “where did all that money go to?” I would mentally total up all the money I had spent over the course of the night and come to the conclusion “Oh yea, I guess that’s right.” Then I would get this disappointed feeling like I’d just wasted not just money but my time. When the night is over what’s left?
Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy an occasional night out but I’ve long since given up that whole “working for the weekend” attitude of my younger days. I’ve found that my time is better enjoyed and spent doing productive things. Something that I can point to and say “I made this” or “I learned this or experienced this”. I’m only sorry that I didn’t come to this conclusion much earlier in life.
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