“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives” – Annie Dillard
Every day is filled with moments; and each moment is filled with feelings. These moments make up our hours, which make up our days, which fill our weeks and become months and, in turn, years.
We get to decide what we feel with each moment. Are you currently saying each time you look at your calendar “I cannot believe the year is already moving so fast!” Do you feel like it’s going too fast, that you can’t keep up? There is a solution. Change your concept of time.
You’re the only one who can do this. So how do we do this? We relish each moment, even the tough ones, the tricky moments, the uncomfortable moments, as they each hold a learning. Relish the charming, the joyous, the engaging and the funny. Relish them all, as life is extraordinary. We can’t change time passing, but we can change our perspective on it.
“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude” – Maya Angelou
We’re need to shift our perspective on time, and what we do with it, to create more happiness and relaxation in each moment and, in turn, each day. Would you rather be stressed? Or relaxed? If you would love to live your days relaxed and incredibly productive, then read on…
Let’s take a look at 20 minutes. I want you to think about these examples…
- 20 minutes on a Sunday afternoon on social media
- 20 minutes in traffic running late for a meeting
- 20 minutes meditating
- 20 minutes waiting at the hospital on test results
- 20 minutes dozing in the sun at the beach on a holiday
- 20 minutes writing emails in between meetings in a taxi
- 20 minutes lying in your lovers arms in bed before you have to get up and go to work in the morning
- 20 minutes reading blogs on the internet, this one included
I think you’ll agree they are all different kinds of time, and they can pass either incredibly quickly or agonisingly slowly.
“We are very used to the DO-ing in our lives, but what about the BE-ing?”
We are very used to the DO-ing in our lives, but what about the BE-ing? When we look at a week, with 24-hours in each day, we have 168 glorious hours in each week. The average work week apparently is 38 hours, but let’s average it out at 50 hours a week. With eight hours sleep a night, we are left with 62 hours a week where we are not sleeping, and not working.
What are we doing with that time?
Let’s take out 20 minutes twice a day, every day, each week. Now we have 58 hours per week left. So do we feel pressed in that time, or light and joyful? If we each invest two x 20 minute “BE Sessions” to take time for ourselves to meditate, stretch or just simply sit and watch the world go by and ponder, time to think creatively, it equals only 3% of each day.
I encourage you to take these little gaps in the day to just BE. What will you do with yours?
Jacqui Lewis is co-founder of The Broad Place – a thoughtful modern approach to conscious living.
