A Little Indulgence Goes A Long Way

by Dave Klecha

Somedays, I wish I had the freedom of Travis McGee, hero of John D. MacDonald’s most excellent novels. He takes his retirement a little at a time, working only when the cash runs out, and doing so on a rather under-the-table basis. MacDonald writes it as a rather romantic existence, equal parts leisure and work, levity and seriousness.

But, well, I can’t. In fact, almost none of us can, which is part of what makes the novels so attractive to so many people. For most of us, that kind of self-indulgence–putting work completely away, not just on a back burner, until we need money–just isn’t possible. We need to be working constantly, first to secure a solid education that will see us into the real world, then to build the kind of financial security that will allow us to retire all the way one day.

If we can’t live McGee’s lifestyle to the letter, though, we may be able to sneak in a bit of leisure, here and there. In fact, I’d say it’s necessary.

Unfortunately, I’m one of the worst people to tell you how to do this, because my tendency is to indulge myself until the credit card offers stop coming, I can’t make my minimum payments, and the bill collectors are knocking. Thank goodness for a wife who keeps me on the straight and narrow. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that amid all this work and education and self-improvement and constructive hobbies and extreme physical fitness regimens, you must learn to relax. Your stress level and your sanity depend upon it.

If you’re like me, what you need to learn is how much is just enough, which is what the title of this entry more accurately refers to. Over-indulging tends to lead me to skip the things I really need to be doing and, really, things that I flat-out enjoy: running, writing, and learning new things. Instead, I tend to over-indulge in sleep, television, and staring at websites waiting for them to refresh.

So: limit the indulgence, but don’t eliminate it. A little goes a long way to keeping you sane and on the low-stress side of things.