Spend Time and Money on What Delights Your Heart

This post was automatically translated by AI from the Japanese original.

For years, “I’m busy” was my habit.

“I don’t have any time for myself.”
“I never get a moment to relax.”

I wanted to live with more room to breathe someday.
How could I make that room in my time?

Looked at objectively, it’s not that I had no time.

“I’m busy” and “I have no time” aren’t facts. A day is given to us as 24 hours.

Eight hours sleeping, eight hours working, one hour eating, one hour on social media: we choose how we spend our time, whether consciously or not.

It can feel as if time slipped away on its own, or as if something stole it, but I think it comes down to how you “use” it.

Some time makes you excited, and some time is boring.

What matters more is whether you spend the same 24 hours the way you want to.

Spend time on what delights your heart#

After that, I started writing this down in my monthly review:

“This month, how did I spend my time in a way that delighted my heart?”

Drinking coffee or tea.
Writing in my diary.
Reading manga.

Calming time that was never productive was what delighted my heart.

I’m bad at waking up, so my days start slowly.
Every time I woke up around noon, I felt bad about it: “I overslept,” “I wasted the morning.”

What Does “Wasting Time” Even Mean?

But from the view that “I chose to spend my time sleeping longer,” it turns out I love wrapping myself in my blanket and enjoying the doze before I get up.

On the other hand, I also like making a to-do list and working through it.
Focusing on my work and getting things done gives me a sense of accomplishment.

When I became aware that I was the one choosing, I ended up with more ways of spending my time that suited me.

As a result, I get things done without frantic effort, and I can relax too.

Money works the same way as time#

Money, like time, doesn’t just disappear on its own.

Whether consciously or not, I’m the one choosing to “spend” it.

On rent, on phone and internet bills, on food.

It’s not that I have no money. I just wasn’t spending it in ways that suited me.

“This month, how did I spend money in a way that delighted my heart?”

The out-of-the-ordinary feeling of a theme park or a trip.
The thrill of an expensive purchase.
The happiness that spreads across my face when I eat something I love.
The comfort of living in a warm space.

As I looked back, mostly food came up for me. Ha ha.

The way a stationery pen writes, clothes that feel good to wear, a heart-fluttering scene in a manga: these fill my heart too.

The standard for what fills me wasn’t whether something is expensive or useful.

Maybe the price actually has nothing to do with feeling happy.

On the other hand, there were times I was hungry and grabbed a quick snack, or bought things to distract or comfort myself.

Some purchases didn’t make me feel as happy as the amount I paid.
Some I bought in a rush because they were limited-time, not at a moment of my own choosing.

In cases like that, the satisfaction is low, so the money feels like it just left on its own.

Once I started choosing for myself and realizing that I’m happy to spend money here, even buying everyday groceries began to feel like, “I can cook a meal with these vegetables, and it will fill me up.”

Before long, I was buying the things I wanted, and still had money left at the end of the month.