In 1999, I spent 10 weeks in northern Thailand as a orphanage volunteer. On my second day there, I joined the director on a 7 hour 'tour' of the city, a thinly disguised shopping marathon from one landscape nursery to another pricing a half-dozen small trees to spruce up the home. AN ENTIRE DAY was used to save a very small amount of money (think of what you would spend to save you four hours shopping, half it, then half it again). Even as an unemployed college student, the amount of money we saved seemed silly. Just spend the money and let's get home.This was my first of many lessons on the different values of time and money. In a world with limited physical resources, an agricultural community where the times between planting and harvesting are moments of patience, the people are rich in time and poor in money.
This world is turned upside down as I crossed the Pacific. In my daily life, it is of no consequence to spend money to spare me time, as time is money. For my U.S. readers, we work with tremendous vigor to obtain the income that will allow us to rest. For the other 85% of the world population, this path through life seems a bit silly.Here in the Philippines, I wallow in the middle of these lifestyles, recognizing the limitations of what can be realistically accomplished in any given day, while still wanting to do so much more. It is healthy for me to take the long-view. As a wise mentor once told me,
Do not overestimate what you can accomplish in one year.
Do not underestimate what you can accomplish in ten.