Raise your hand if you’re from a family that considered Time a tangible item that was to be used efficiently and wisely. Dinner at 6pm; chores on Saturday; bedtime at 8pm … our household growing up was based around Time. My mother would happily tick off her completed list to us at the end of the day. We spent dinner sharing what we did during the day with an underlying need for accomplishment.
I know that I am fooling myself when I think I’ve adopted a free-spirited attitude around the concept of time because I still find myself guarding it like it’s the crown jewels. I’m so busy not wasting time that I’m not always enjoying it either.
During a recent trip, sitting in an 8,000 year old city, I pondered the subject of time and its’ impact and tight-hold on me. I wondered if the Romans ever cut their steam bath short because they were late to the forum. If Aristotle had to adhere to a time limit when giving his speeches to the masses. Was all the ceremonial hubbub around death, all those years ago, because they felt their lives were being cut short?
As I sat pondering time and listening to George, our lovely tour guide, I knew somehow the magic was in harnessing time.
This does not mean take control of it, on the contrary, it means relaxing your grip. Letting go of control. I came to realize I rarely actually let go. Really let go … of time.
Chevy Chase’s movie character in Caddy Shack gives the advice to his golf caddy to get in touch with the force in the universe, stop thinking, let things happen and “be the ball.” As funny as that scene was, he actually nailed it. The concept of letting go and slowing down time.
How many of us actually start a busy day by sitting quietly and do nothing? Do you see this as a waste of time? How many of you [when you just need a minute] stop and do nothing in the middle of a busy day?
Come to find out, doing nothing isn’t all that easy. Apparently we are a society that struggles with this. Back in 2014, Timothy Wilson and his team from the University of Virginia found that 67% of men and 25% of women preferred giving themselves a mild electric jolt than to be left alone with their thoughts and to do nothing.
Okay, so here it is. We can’t change the number of hours in a day, but we can create more time for ourselves by utilizing time the way WE choose. Shifting time to work for us instead of against us, thereby creating enough time to do all we choose in life. Time can stand still when we’re not trying to manage our way through it. Success is always available when you live fully in the moment and are conscious of who you are and how you work.
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