STATE OF PLAY: FREE WILL OR FREE TIME

IVIKA AND PETER, SLOVAKIAN BUSKERS

“Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose/

Nothin’ ain’t worth nothin’ but it’s free” (from Kris Kristofferson’s song, Me and Bobby McGee).

Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness is a well-known phrase in the United States Declaration of Independence, and the general theme for this particular blog entry.

The pursuit of Happiness is to me, the pursuit of positive experiences (is to me) to achieve more happiness in life.

Playing electronic and video games, watching television, reading, going for coffee, going for beers, are some popular pastime pursuits enjoyed by Western consumers.

The reason we engage in such pursuits is because we want to.  Such choices are our choices, exercises of our free will.  (When we are forced into doing things, these experiences then are not as positive, maybe even negative.)

Attempting to make the world fit OUR desires is called Primary Control.  Anytime we try to force the world into our personal agenda is most often a futile exercise in control, resulting in a certain dissonance.   

Learning the flexibility of controlling our actions to our experiences is called Secondary Control.  Being flexible in the circumstance is a worthwhile exercise in harmonically going with the flow.

Secondary Control is the true test to adjust to uncontrollable situations.  Having secondary control is having PERSONAL POWER, or in other words, FREE WILL.

Having positive personal power, though, demands thought and action. 

First, we must be aware of the times when we are not in control.  (Consider such times as happy accidents, or random luck.)  For more personal enjoyments, try to always engage in the not-in-control experience.  Positive benefits will always enrich the experience.  Laugh and enjoy the moment, be it by your design or not.

Here is the lesson:  Real personal power demands that you evaluate your life carefully and always attempt to appreciate and enjoy the experience.

“Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose/ Nothin’ ain’t worth nothin’ but it’s free.”  When you’ve nothing to lose – you can do whatever you please.  Nothing left to lose is a rather anti-consumerism expression:  OUR THINGS OWN US.

This brings to mind explanation of my snappy title, STATE OF PLAY:  FREE WILL OR FREE TIME.

First there is my pun on play, as in romp or strum.  Recreation (synonym for play) can be the constructive use of our free time, free, being another pun.

Free can mean from obligation, or free as in a dollar value.  If free is interpreted as a perceived leisure, then free means an intrinsic motivation of sorts.

Free offers three levels of connotation and inference; first as in time, second as in activity, and third as in a state of mind. 

I’m presenting so far that our values of free time could very well be a time versus money dilemma.  This dilemma, measured according to money, offers only the visceral heart vs head, zero-sum solution.

Or the value of free time could be a social value, the construct allocation of time (and money) to another person, or other people, volunteerism (coaching) for example.

Or the value of free time could be recreational value, the construct activity done for enjoyment, amusement, pleasure, or in a word … FUN.

NINE-BALL: BEST GAME EVER (FOR ME)

In my free time I watch CNN for twenty minutes every day on television, just to catch up on the national news, expecting any day now to discover that our obsessed birther, Don Trump, was actually born in Russia and is now a mole serving the Soviet regime.  In my free time I read Psychology Today, Huffington Post, and Al Jazeera news, every morning at 5 o’clock a.m. while I sip my Americano coffee.  In my free time my zeitgeber every morning betwixt 5:30 and 6:00 I go the gym for a weightlifting workout.  In my free time I take Muay Thai on Monday evenings.  In my free time I write in delusional earnest, books that are soon-to-be best sellers and my weekly blog, the one you’re reading right now.  In my free time I play guitar, either busking or gigging or both.  In my free time I go downtown to watch and support my guitar buddies playing live in the downtown pubs.  In my free time I play nine-ball every Saturday afternoon.  All these mentioned activities are intrinsically motivated – all these activities are for me … FUN.

AMERICANO COFFEE: BEST DRINK EVER (FOR ME)

Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose.

As long as we have something to lose, our actions are constrained by our need to protect it. 

MUAY THAI:  BEST MARTIAL ART EVER (FOR ME)

Here is what I know:

TRUE FREEDOM COMES FROM HAVING NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE  …

WHATEVER YOU DO TO WIMPLE YOUR FREE TIME SHOULD DEMONSTRATE LOVING YOURSELF.