Disagreeing with Socrates

 This week's quotation is by the Greek philosopher, Socrates. He wrote, "Leisure is the finest possession of all."

Admittedly, I don't know the context in which this was written, but as it stands, I couldn't disagree more. There are far more important things than leisure, in my opinion. Such as health, peace, love and friendship - the list goes on.

And I don't believe it is possible to "possess" leisure anyway... My Concise Oxford Dictionary defines leisure as, "(Opportunity to do, for, afforded by) free time, time at one's own disposal." And, we cannot "possess" time either - it passes by at a rate of sixty seconds a minute, sixty minutes an hour, twenty fours hours a day, no matter what we are doing. 

I guess that what he might have been talking about, is that "time at one's own disposal" is a fine possession. Leisure time allows us to engage in activites which feed our hearts and minds, which we would otherwise not have time for. And I certainly value my own leisure time, which is generally spent in a variety of ways: walking in nature, writing, reading, and crocheting. I can attempt to ring fence such time, so that my life is made richer. But I cannot possess it.

These days, it is only too easy to waste our precious leisure time, by scrolling idly on our phones, engaging with social media, or watching trashy television programmes. And I am as guilty of the latter as the next person. My saving grace is that I am usually crocheting at the same time. I do believe that leisure time, well spent, can enrich our lives.

What do you do, to make your leisure time rich and meaningful?