Having Time For All

By Dr R Neerunjun Gopee

We live in the era of workaholics: addiction to work schedules with little time for anything else but sitting down in front of the television as the main leisure ‘activity.’ Of course it feels good to sit down and watch a nice programme, whether it’s an entertaining film or a lively documentary. I know of many people who spend a lot of their time in front of the magic box, but who complain that they can’t find if only a little time to do some exercise, and I think – and tell them too – that that’s a very lame excuse.

It is said that busy people are the ones that have the most time. Probably many of us will have had the experience of seeking an appointment with a busy person and being accommodated in his/her busy schedule. Perhaps it’s because busy people know or have devised ways to manage their time in the best way. This leaves us to wonder whether less busy people are better at whiling if not wasting away their time in unfruitful pursuits?

Whatever it be, there is a case to be made for employing one’s time productively and gainfully, in terms of making a living and developing a healthy body and a sound mind. We should see the latter as happening in parallel and not separately, for we all know intuitively that the mind and the body are intimately related. If the body suffers from some ailment, we get worried or diminished and cannot use our mental faculties optimally; similarly, if our mind is disturbed by some sad event or news, our bodily needs such as thirst or hunger are relegated to the background even if that be temporary.

At all times, therefore, it is important to plan our activities and occupations so that we maintain reasonable work-life balance for both our bodily and mental benefit, in both the short and long terms. That’s why I found the following advice by Swami Sivananda very apt and appealing:

 Eat a little, drink a little
Talk a little, sleep a little
Mix a little, move a little
Serve a little, rest a little
Work a little, relax a little
Study a little, worship a little
Do Asana a little, Pranayama a little
Reflect a little, meditate a little
Do Japa a little, do Kirtan a little
Write Mantra a little, have Satsang a little
Do all these, little, little. You will have time for all.

Swami Sivananda, founder of the Divine Life Society, was a medical doctor from South India. In the earlier part of the 20^th century he went to then Malaya to attend to the health needs of the migrant workers from India who had gone there. I read that he was running three hospitals at a time, and yet he managed to find the time to write and study too. Until eventually he felt the call, left, and went to the Himalayas to seek spiritual knowledge.

His immense legacy is transmitted in the vast output of literature that he left, and the wisdom that it contains is of perennial value. I think the important point is that whatever he opines or advises is rooted in his ground experience as a medical man, facing and handling sufferings of all kinds and helping to bring relief and succour. In taking to the spiritual path, he was merely completing another dimension of that experience of and need for understanding more fully the human being and his place in the scheme of things. This is evident in his writings and that is why they appeal so strongly because they touch us profoundly, reflecting as they do our own lived realities.

He achieved both success in his profession and happiness in personal life, illustrating the truism:

‘Success is in the big things.

Happiness is in the small things.’

We tend to over-consume: eat too much, work too much, sleep too much, relax too much – and so on. As Swamiji wisely counsels, we should do a little of everything, and then we will find time for all. Remember also that ‘all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.’ We are all potential Jacks. We must therefore act before it is too late so that we do not turn into dullards.

A little of everything and we will find time for All is very sound advice. We must do a little of everything, and everything a little at a time so that we may find time for All, without straining either the body or the mind in the process. We may not become super-intelligent but we shall no doubt be happier – not at the end of it all, but throughout our lives. The ball is in our court, and let us play and enjoy the game.

* Published in print edition on 9 March 2012