fear of leisure

[miriam_e]

When I talk to people about the changes that are likely to bring about a time of leisure in the near future, I'm always amazed that people's first reaction is almost always worry that others won't know what to do with all that free time. Rarely do they think they, themselves, will be unable to handle more time; it is always a fear that others won't.

What does that say about us? Are we so conditioned to always think the worst of others? When those that worry about people's ability to use free time are questioned about what they would do with more time they have little hesitation in saying

• travel to see the places I've always wanted,
• read more books,
• see more movies,
• go back to school to get more qualifications,
• write that book I've always wanted to,
• spend some time working on the house/car/boat,
• start up my own business.

But they never seem to realise that these are the very things that everybody else wants too.