“I just can’t find the TIME!”
I hear that a lot, especially from people in my sessions who tell me they’re “too busy” to meditate.
“I just can’t find the time!”
As if “time” is something they lost and they don’t know where it went.
Actually…. that’s probably EXACTLY what happened.
We feel reallysuperbusy during our days, and then we ask, “Where did the time go?”
Because we can’t fully account for how we spent our time.
All we know is that we didn’t have any “time to ourselves.”
Isn’t it funny how we talk about time?
We can
spend it
save it
lose it
account for it
treasure it
earn it
make it
and
waste it.
It’s exactly how we talk about money, right? Because time is— oh, I won’t even go there.
But really, the analogy makes sense.
If you want money, you rarely just “find” it.
And if you DO find it, it’s often a just a penny or a few long-forgotten bills tucked in the pocket of your winter coat.
It’s not enough to live on.
If you really want money, you have to make it.
If you really want some time to yourself, you have to
MAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF.
You rarely just “find” it.
And if you DO find it, it’s often just a minute or a few long-forgotten moments from the last time you wore your winter coat.
It’s not enough to live on.
So stop misplacing your time, and…
MAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF.
I don’t care how busy you are (actually, I do, but I want to make a point here) or how many kids you have or how incredibly important your job is (again, I do care…) — but really, you have time!
Just like I can’t make money for you (though I wish I could!), I can’t make time for you. I can’t tell you where your time goes.
But YOU can.
The financial gurus would tell you if you want more money, you have to keep track of where the money you have is going. All those lattes and banking fees and unused gym memberships add up.
The schedule gurus (do they exist? probably…) would tell you if you want more time, you have to keep track of where the time you have is going. All that Facebook scrolling and Netflix binging and email checking add up.
Maybe, just for today, keep a log of your time. {Click the image to the right to download my guide to help you do just that! (Or click here.)}
What do you do during the day that brings you joy? What do you do during the day that drags you down? What do you do during your day that you could go without?
Maybe you’ll realize that some of the things you do each day (drinking your morning coffee, having lunch with your colleagues) actually ARE nurturing and restorative practices, but in your busy, time-scarce mode you didn’t see them that way.
Maybe you’ll realize you hardly ever have a moment of stillness during your day.
Maybe you’ll realize you’re spending an hour on something that actually only needs 20 minutes of your time.
Maybe you’ll discover your time equivalent of expensive lattes, the things you do because you think they’re important at the time, but they really just end up draining your bank account energy.
Maybe you’ll find that eliminating a few things here and there allows you an extra 30 minutes in the morning just for yourself.
Maybe you’ll find that you’re not as busy as you think you are.
Maybe you’ll make an appointment to just sit and breathe and savor your coffee.
Maybe you’ll stop saying you can’t find any time and you’ll make time for yourself.
It just might make you feel like a million bucks.
p.s. Sometimes we feel resistant to taking care of ourselves. We might think it’s selfish.
It’s not. It’s just not, okay?
p.p.s. Got a few moments to yourself and now you don’t even know what to do to take care of yourself? Check out my list of 30 short and simple ideas for soothing self-care.
You’ll never FIND time for yourself unless you MAKE time for yourself! Tweet
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