The curse of free

Our relationship with ‘free’ things needs some reflection.

If it is free, it doesn’t mean that you should take it. We justify this by saying that if we don’t want it, we’ll get rid of it later. Isn’t that the ultimate charm of something being offered for free- you can do whatever you want to with it without the guilt of having spent anything on it.

Free things cost a lot more than what meets the eye. By mindlessly bringing free things in your life, you not only cause clutter in your mental and physical space but you also pay in time. Time taken to sort, process, save or discard the ‘free’ item.

And your time isn’t free. Neither is your energy. These are the limited resources that you should look at conserving. I would much rather pay a premium for something I know I want than pay in my time and energy for something I am unsure about but now want just because it’s free.

Also, free things aren’t just physical products or events. We also end up subscribing to blogs, YouTube channels, Twitter and Instagram handles, apps just cause they are free. What’s worse with free internet things is that unknowingly we build a bubble around us which limits us in many ways- but that’s a topic for another day.

We behave as if we have an infinite amount of time to pay for these free things. That one day we’ll catch up and still have an infinite amount of time to give to new free things. Guess what, we won’t.