Note: This is a guest post by Diane Dutchin of Coaching Alive the Mind, Body & Spirit.
We’ve heard this statement a few times “time stands still for no man”. How true are those words. Time denotes our existence here on earth, the dash – between the dates of our birth to the last day of our life contains a personal history of who we were, how we lived, who we knew and what we did with our lives.
It is filled with memories of love, joy, laughter, pain, sorrow, anger, forgiveness, emotions all entertained, some internalized, some expressed, and some exploded.
In the midst of our living, time continues on its endless journey – time is a gift, though we rarely stop and acknowledge it as such. With every day time is equally allotted to everyone – 24 hours, and what we do with that time is totally up to us.
We can spend our time wisely, or worthlessly, we can squander it, or invest it, we can enjoy it, or abuse it, we can live it, or retreat from it, but it moves on regardless.
Time cannot be contained, only the memories caught within that time can be! With time we have the amazing ability to capture within our memory bank those moments that cause us to become embodied with adrenaline, love, passion, peace, and a revealing awareness of who we are as individuals.
As a result of what time allowed us to live, we can identify with what turns us on, and off. We then find ourselves gravitating towards events and people that will cause us to experience again, and again to what has awaken our being.
The analogy of the effective use of time is demonstrated by first placing large rocks firsts into a jar before adding pebbles, sand and water. This is simply to illustrate the representation of using time wisely by attending first to the most important tasks, and so forth.
Sometimes what is caught we’d like to forget, or have a chance to go back and redo, but we can’t because time does not stand still, and does not rewind. We can only learn from what transpired within that time, grow from it and move on.
Time does however; give us opportunities to make changes within ourselves that would empower us to be better human beings. To seek forgiveness for wrong we’ve incurred, and seek to forgive, to change how we see others, how we view ourselves, to add value and build our self-esteem, which will ultimately have a positive effect on those around us.
Time according to the Webster dictionary is defined as a period; it’s like a capsule of life being caught and preserved by actions and words of humans being that unfolds into what essentially makes up our lives.
Time cannot be seen; a clock simply is used as a gauge to keep us aware of what we need to do, and when we need to do it.
Within the sphere of time we have the ability to do whatever we want, but using time to be effective is time well spent. Unconsciously, we make the decision daily as to how we’re going to spend time, let’s spend it wisely creating memories that will benefit you and those you’ll touch.
Dealing with different aspects of time:
Important Time
Is the time we use to attend to the things that are of high importance in our live; like working to earn a living, filling the role as a parent, and partner. Paying bills, balancing our budget, attending school, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle are all things that usually take up our important time. Prioritizing these tasks will add value to our lives, and leave us with a feeling of fulfillment at day’s end.
Interrupted Time
Are the things that creep into our day that are unexpected, like being delayed in traffic jam, missing the bus connection, and work load increase with other unfinished projects on the go are a few things that shows up in our lives that sometimes can send us back. Recognizing that some of the time interrupted issues are out of our control will help to ease elevation of stress, and we’ll be in a better frame of mind to come up with alternate ways to tackle the issue at hand.
Escape Time
Those moments when we simply need to get away from the daily grind, to step back, step away from the situation and clear our heads. Using times like these are very important to maintain sanity; especially when we find ourselves being short tempered on the job, snapping at others for no reason. Escape time is healthy when we’re in a relationship that is going sour with no hope of reconciliation – not that we’re running away, but simply stepping back to gather our thoughts together to make healthy choices.
Relaxing Time
The time we enjoy good food with great company, get caught up with what’s going on in the lives of our friends, vacationing, watching TV, reading a book, or participating in something that we enjoy doing. Setting aside time to relax is a must; hard work should be rewarded. Taking time to relax will reenergize the mind and body, and we’ll be able to reflect on what we’re grateful for; our jobs, loved ones, health, and whatever earthly possession we have, and sometimes take for granted.
Dream Time
Or what I like to refer to as “me time”. We should take time to dream, this allows our mind to reevaluate where we’re at in life, see what area needs work, and take note of how our dreams are being manifested, and those that we’ve allowed to die.
This will give us the opportunity to awaken that desire and bring that dream back to life. Dream time gives us that chance to self align and take stock of our life’s journey, and serves to remind us of what our desires are and take steps to live those dreams.
Action Time
This is where we take actions, make movement to execute those dreams, live those desires, and go after our goals. Write down what steps are needed to manifest those dreams, record our mission statement, goals, deadline and reasons why we’re going after that dream. Then implement it! There’s something powerful about walking out what the mind has processed.
Bed Time
This just may be one of the times we look forward to; especially when we’re spent from a hectic day. It is important to get at least 6-8 hours of restful sleep; this not only builds the immune system, but also gets us ready to handle what the new day will bring that requires the use of time.
We need to use the time we have now, to live in the now, to embrace good, to love ourselves unconditionally, to give life to others by showing we care, and by adding value to others.
Time is too precious of a gift to waste, so make the decision to use the time given to you wisely, and you will not only find fulfillment, but enjoyment in the process.
Diane Dutchin works part time as a Writer, Fitness and Lifestyle Coach based in Vancouver BC who blogs about fitness, encouraging, mind stimulating and life changing topics. Check out her work at Coaching Alive the Mind, Body & Spirit and 1-2-3 Fat Loss Solution.
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This post was very helpful in helping me to identify how I use my time. I just finished a post where I touched on how I prioritize my time and set goals for myself. This post did a good job expanding on traditional time management ideas.
nice post…it really makes you think!
Good post and great reminder about how time is the most important commodity we all have.
wonderful post – a true remoinder that our time is precious and limited. Thanks for sharing!!!
This post makes me think about how I can allocate my time more appropriately so as to increase my productivity.
Thanks for the great post!
Cheers~
Mark
Hi, nicely catalogued time, but I guess I have a more intuitive approach to time.
I firmly believe in the “ripeness” of an idea – that you just know in your gut when it’s time to take action on something. I much prefer this way of living to following schedules and other people’s priorities.
Mind you, I can also feel when it’s time to organise myself with “to do” lists.
My personal philosophy is that the universe is very patient, and if we don’t grab an opportunity the first time around, the universe will offer us another one down the track, for when we might be more ready. The “opportunity of a lifetime” comes around much more often than people realise.
Great post. I like the first half the best. It was very reflective and really makes you consider your position in life in respect to the time one is given. Thanks to the writer, good points made.
Hello, just wanted to say that I loved your blog, lots of good info. Also just wanted to point out how Journaling has helped me track the progress of my journey.
Hi Diane,
I like the idea of having a dream time. By dreaming and thinking about where we are now and where we want to arrive will help to guide us and ensure that we do not deviate from our path.
Cheers
Vincent
Personal Development Blogger
Thank you Diane. That was great. Your combination of time as an abstract concept combined with the different ways of categorising activity stimulated and inspired me. I realise that I need to devote more effort to translating dream time into action time.