Time

Walnuts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We all seem to bemoan how little time we have or how busy we are.  The truth is that we have the same amount to time as everyone else,  we have systems for making more effective use of our time.  When we want to do more with our time, or when God wants us to do more with out time, we seem to be blown away.  We have already filled our time, how can we possibly add more to the schedule?

 

We have to use our creativity to find ways to work smarter, to get the important things done rather than just doing the easiest, quickest, or most mundane thing.  If we do the important things, then the other things will find a way to fit in.  Do you wonder if that is really true?  An example that helps me is a visual reminder that I saw years ago.  It was a container, un-shelled walnuts, and uncooked rice.  If you put the rice in the container first, then all the walnuts and rice would not fit in the vessel.  If you put in the walnuts first, then everything fit.  Put the big things, the high priority important things, first.  The rest finds a way to fit.

 

Remember, there are people all over the world in nursing homes and retirement homes that long for the busy day.  Many sit for days with little or nothing to do.  They wish to be doing.  They wish they had something to fill their time.  Your busy schedule and demands on your time are blessings.  You have a full life.  Thank God for the many people, situations, and issues that fill your day.  Just remember that the walnuts go first.

An Extra Day

Leap Day - February 29th (Photo credit: Cameron Maddux)

We often lament that we need extra time.  There is just not enough time to get everything done!  If only I had an extra day!  Here it is.  This is your Leap Day.  It only comes around once every four years, so you need to make this extra day count for four years.

This is not any old Wednesday.  It is your day to get in all of the things you would do if you had more time.  Some ideas you may want to consider:

Spend some time on your spiritual life.  Often when we get busy this is one of the things we let slide.  We feel that we have too much to do in our day to spend as much time as we would like with God.  Here is the extra time that you need.  Maybe this is the day you start a new spiritual practice.  Perhaps you have been putting off journaling because it would take too much time.  Maybe you have only prayed your high-priority prayers rather than all of them.  Let your prayer time be more relaxed.  Let yourself take all the time you need to take in prayer.  After all,  you have an extra day.

Long Range Planning.  Having a plan for our lives also us to transform dreams into goals, goals into  projects, projects into steps, and steps into do-able tasks. Yet there never seems to a good time to reflect on our life and envision our dreams becoming reality.  Take some time to consider your life, career, family, and dreams.  Where do you want to be next leap day, and how are you going to get there?

Relationships.  We neglect some relationships because there is just not enough time to catch  up with folks.  We wonder how friends and relatives are doing, but there is never time to connect.  We know the importance of networking, but we are overwhelmed with tasks.  Today is the day.  Make the phone call.  Go to lunch.  Have a date with your spouse.  You have the extra time.

God gives each of us the same number of hours in a day.  We cannot get anymore than our allotted time.  Yet leap day is a gift of an extra day in our year.  What we do with that gift is up to us.  Happy Leap Day.

Perspective

Image via Wikipedia

Two months can be a long time or a short time depending on your perspective.  It is a long time if you are in the last two  months  of a pregnancy. It is a short time if it is the amount of time you have before a move across country.  It is a long time if you are Professional Bull Riding fan (PBR) waiting for the new season to begin.  It is a short time if  you are a bull rider who is spending weekends with family and friends.

 

No matter how we look at our time, we know that we have a finite amount of time.  Each of us only has 24 hours in each day.  We each have only seven days in a week.   All of  us make choices about how we use the time that we have been given.  We can use our time to do the things that really matter to us, or we can waste time.  We can squander time or we can cherish the time we have with those who matter most to us.  We can use our time to allow our personal growth and development, or we can structure our days with such rigidity that nothing new will ever be able to come into our lives.

 

What we do with our time is a choice that we all must make.  Take the time to consider what is important to you.  What has value and meaning in your life?  How much time do those things get?  What are you going to do with your next two months?

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Time

Image by katerha via Flickr

Two months can be a long time or a short time depending on your perspective.  It is a long time if you are in the last two  months  of a pregnancy. It is a short time if it is the amount of time you have before a move across country.  It is a long time if you are Professional Bull Riding fan (PBR) waiting for the new season to begin.  It is a short time if  you are a bull rider who is spending weekends with family and friends.

 

No matter how we look at our time, we know that we have a finite amount of time.  Each of us only has 24 hours in each day.  We each have only seven days in a week.   All of  us make choices about how we use the time that we have been given.  We can use our time to do the things that really matter to us, or we can waste time.  We can squander time or we can cherish the time we have with those who matter most to us.  We can use our time to allow our personal growth and development, or we can structure our days with such rigidity that nothing new will ever be able to come into our lives.

 

What we do with our time is a choice that we all must make.  Take the time to consider what is important to you.  What has value and meaning in your life?  How much time do those things get?  What are you going to do with your next two months?