Take time.
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PORT MELBOURNE BEACH
"How are you? - Busy. I'm soooo very busy..." has this conversation played out for you recently? I'm as guilty as anyone, but I'd like to change that and challenge the use of 'busy' and 'no time' from the pallet of words we choose to use...
The truth is we are all busy, doing lots of stuff, and it does often feel like we have 'no time'. We get caught up in the rat race of life, and that my friends isn't going to change... the pace of the world around us is speeding up, not slowing down. We often just bounce from one thing to the next, from one person to the next, one location to the next. The busy-ness of life is an occupational hazard!
But here's the thing... world over there are 24 hours in a day - 1,440 minutes in fact. That is actually a lot of 'time' from a currency perspective for each and every one of us who has the privilege of living them.
So why is it we have 'no time'? As with many things, I believe it's the story we tell ourselves...
If we keep telling ourselves we have no time, and responding to people when they ask how we are - with "I'm sooooo very busy". Guess how we're going to feel?? Yep - busy, no time. Pretty simple. Don't get me wrong - I get head spins just chatting to some people in my life when I hear what they're up to today...
But... Imagine if you had all the time in the world?? How nice would that feel?
I was challenged on this recently - to believe that I did in fact have all the time in the world, and after resisting it a couple of time, I let those words land, I let them in. And it just gave me this sense of calm-ness. It's a work in progress - we often default back to what we know... but man it can feel good!
Try it - say out loud a few times "I'm so very busy", feel it... Then try "I have all the time in the world" a few times. Notice any differences?
Today - I went down the street to grab some lunch, had planned to bring it back to the office then I thought, no - I might take time to sit and eat my lunch in the sun, and by taking time - the concept of this blog came to me... And now I am taking time to write it. I do have a zillion things to do, and I will get to them, but right now - I feel inspired to take time to write, and I'm so grateful I have.
But don't just do it for you - do it for the people around you. I think the greatest gift you could give someone is your time - and to actually be present in that time. It can be a rare phenomena - but when it's extended to you, it's something to be cherished.
A wise friend recently taught me a thing or two about mindfulness and her words really resonated - 'this is where I've chosen to spend my time, so this is where I'll be'.
Time is the most precious resource we have. If we don't 'take time' for the little stuff, for the quality stuff, for those around us - then honestly, what's the point in doing anything with your time? You may as well quite literally have no time - it would be much more efficient...
It's the quality of the time you take - that determines the happiness in your days and the richness of your experiences.
So... how much time do you actually have today?
And if you've got this far, I thank you for 'taking the time' to read my words, I hope it's been time well spent ;)
(Originally published - 23rd August, 2016)