So, what are you doing now?
Oh.. I'm happily unemployed!
That phrase together with "better to be unemployed than to be employed by SAF", have been my most used lines in recent times. No, I have not been using those lines to lord over ppl who are incredibly busy or still in the army!
I had every intention to work after I was done with my term in the army. I certainly do not enjoy "living off" my parents. I very much prefer to be independant. Indeed, I worked for a month, december last year, and it was a good experience. However, at the end of the 1 month stint, I was a few hundred dollars richer, but none the wiser.
Time is by far a more precious resource than money will ever be. I tend to be very loose in the way i spend my money, but it pales in comparison to my wasteful treatment of the time that i've had.
I initially took the decision not to work so that I could enrol into some course in some Bible School. On hindsight, the vagueness of the plan led to it's inevitable failure. I took my own time finding a school and course, that by the time i found something suitable, all the application dates had passed.
Still, there seemed to be so much more fruitful stuff I could do with my time than just settling for another temp job! At least in my head there was. To be fair to myself(such a weird phrase), I did manage and am managing to do some great stuff with my time.
I've managed to spend more time with my maternal grandmother this year than I did the entire of last year. From playing Scrabble to learning her top secret recipes, it has been a real joy interating with her and engagin her in stuff that really brings back the old days for her. Also, I was able to accompany my paternal grandparents to Malaysia to attend a funeral. Next week, I'm planning to go over to teach my grandmother how to use the computer.
Not having to hold down a 9-5 job also means that I'm available to help anyone who needs it. Not only that, but i'm also able to notice when people need help. Okay, I can still be quite oblivious to things happening around me, but I hope I'm improving! Whether it is just sitting down for a chat or actually helping out with designing brochures, I'm a lot more able and willing to do so only because I have the time and energy!
The ability to spend extended Quiet Time with the Lord has been the greatest advantage of being unemployed. Each new day, I am able to spend an hour or two at the beach with my Father. The best part is that I can even just be there the whole day if I want to! I have always felt that I can hear from God better when I'm away from all the hustle and bustle of life and am just sitting at the beach with the sound of the winds and the waves.
Something far more incredible happened last week though. As I sat at the beach and watched the tide come in and the waves crash over my toes, I did not just hear God speak to me from heaven. No, I could feel God sitting with me at the beach. Goodness, no words could describe the emotion, but it's simply incredible; having the Creator of all things in such close proximity to you! All I can say is that it was and is the happiest moment in my life.
So, if I have attained so much joy in being unemployed, then why am I re-evaluating my decision now? Let's just say that I spent the entire afternoon today playing Fifa 11 on my xbox and am now feeling a little guilty. Well, it's not just today it's just an accumulation of hours wasted everyday to mindless surfing of the internet.
Bad Habits die hard, they say. I can not seem to get out of default mode of going to the computer whenever I have time at home. Neither can I seem to persevere long enough to execute ideas that I have in my head. It seems that unless someone gives me a structure to follow, my days will just be spineless.
However, after 2 years of regimentation in the army, spineless days are "oh so refreshing"! Too much of almost anything can never do much good though. What I think I need is a basic structure of the weeks ahead and a list of things that I need and should do in the spaces of free time which will appear.
It's decided then... NOT TO WORK! Time for me to head down to the beach to snap some night pics and to write down that list then...
