Intensive and extensive living

Lent 2019, Day 14

A 'life in balance' piece here. How do you live your life - intensively or extensively? Do you live in a small flat, on a tight budget, and constantly battle to save money wherever possible? Or do you live in a big house, with ample funds and are carefree when it comes to spending the dosh?

The notion of 'intensive' and 'extensive' comes from farming; it is the contrast between an agriculture like that of the Netherlands or Israel, where resources are limited and the land is worked hard to produce sufficient yields, and that of say, Russia or Brazil where land is endless and a wasteful slash-and-burn approach is often taken - take what's easy to take, and move on.

Money is not our only resource - the other is time. Time is something that the intensive-living person spends wisely, while the extensive-living person tends to squander. And as the rich tend to squander their wealth, so the young tend to squander their time. As I get older, I realise that - the clock has been ticking at the same steady pace since my youth, but like a big fat bank account, it's only when you see that your income is not infinite do you start trimming back on the expenditure.

Saving time and money is all well and good, but there's another resource we must watch - our environment. The intensive-living person will shun meat, recycle religiously, use as little fossil-fuel-based energy as possible, mindful that the earth needs to be passed on to the next generations.

Balancing our resources to maintain balance is the key; people often waste time trying to save money (driving across town to do shopping somewhere that's, yes, cheaper, but takes a hour longer to do), or waste money trying to save time (driving from A to B when walking gives good exercise, buying more expensive products rather than scan the shelf to see if there's a better offer). Or waste the environment trying to save time (bunging all the household waste into one bag to save segregating it, driving a car anywhere).

I am mindfully trying to find a balance, though I am coming at things from the extensive approach, and intensifying. In past years, I'd work much harder, managing several gigs as well as maintaining my main job with the chamber - some years I'd have six or seven PITy (tax returns) from different companies to submit with my annual tax declaration. For last year - for the first time - there's just the one. I'm earning less, but working less - and making the most of the time that I'm not spending working. As energy levels and physical stamina diminish, self-discipline is required to stay strong. My daily exercising routines - recorded in a spreadsheet daily since 1 January 2014 - prove that I am indeed becoming more intensive with my use of time, investing in a long-term goal.

Self-discipline grows with time, which is handy as time gets shorter. I find it's easier to push myself to spend less, eat healthier and exercise more - but the key metric that's impossible to quantify is creativity. How much writing - and snapping - yes, I can see how many blog posts I've churned out, how many articles - but what about the quality?

Intensive living tends to be more sustainable for the long term. It is less wasteful - of time, of money (above all money = choice), and of the environment.

And intensive living also tends to be more ascetic, and with asceticism come the insights so necessary to contact the spiritual side of life.

Lent is a good time to review one's direction in life, check and take appropriate action.

This time three years ago:
Before Spin by Keith McDowall

This four years ago:
Mill town Łódź 

This time five years ago:
Today, a tipping point in European history

This time six years ago:
Church and state

This time seven years ago:
Scrub fire in Jeziorki

This time eight years ago:
Airbus A380 visits Warsaw

This time nine years ago:
Lenten recipe no. 7

This time ten years ago:
Poland's economy - upturn in sight? (answer of course: yes!)

This time 11 years ago:
Spring? Feels like Christmas in the snow...