Are you wasting, spending or chasing time?
Another Friday came and it is one of those Fridays that are in October. Weren't we celebrating new year just a couple of days ago? Where did the time go? It does not have wings but it sure does fly, goes away and can never come back. Once you do something, it can not be undone and once you fail to do something, you will never have that exact moment to do it. So what are you doing, how are you spending your time and are you spending it at all or are you wasting it? Are you chasing it?
CC0 licence, Pixabay, author: Yudianaputra , adapted by me
I am one of those people that if they have 25 things to do per day, I will do them all and have some spare time left but if I have two things to do I will probably not do either of them. This is because I organize my time when there is a lot to do and procrastinate when I have little with saying how there is plenty of time and I should just take a nap. There is one thing, however, that I do every day. I always learn something new. You know my favorite quote by now, right?
"Live like you are going to die tomorrow,
learn like you are going to live forever."
Gandhi
Everything can get stolen from you, even your life if we're going to be bluntly honest and pessimistic but your mind is only yours. The knowledge you hold will never go away. If your brain is healthy that is. What you learn is the only true possession you will acquire in your life. This is why I learn something new every day and enrich myself with some new information. Sometimes those pieces of information are smaller and sometimes larger. Sometimes they are about history or science, trivia, cultural, and sometimes it is a new cooking recipe. The only thing that matters is that it is what I did not know before.
One hour after I got up
I alredy learned something...
Have you ever heard or used the expression Knock on wood? We use that term when everything so far has been going good and we want to keep it that way. Today, I learned where that term comes from...
Long long time ago, people were strong believers that spirits lived in trees. Those spirits were always eavesdropping on people and playing tricks on them when they learned what people were planning by creating the opposite. When a person was wanting something to stay like it was and talking about it, he or she would knock on wood to create a sort of sound distortion for the spirits, a noise so they could not hear the person speaking.
As I have said, I learned this only one hour after I got up. I know I will learn a lot more today since I have promised my friend to come for a visit and help her study for one of her exams, I think the subject is about human muscles, blood and cells, a biology kind so that will be interesting. I wonder what else will I store to my brain today...
Wasting time does not mean you are doing nothing, it means that you feel like you are doing nothing. You are always doing something, even sitting and thinking is something, breathing is something and sleeping is something. Wasting time means you are doing what you do not want to be doing. That is a waste. Time is passing and you are not happy with the amount of it being used on what fulfills you. You will recognize wasted time by your regret and a thought that you did nothing useful or valuable. Just remember:
“Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.”
Marthe Troly-Curtin
Always in a hurry?
Fell like you always have too little time?
You are chasing it...
If you are always late for everything and having a million things a day you do with always running around and stressing about will you have enough time for all your plans then you are chasing time. You are never having enough of it and you are never enjoying it. Even when you go for a hike, you walk fast to reach that top, never stop to admire the nature and then quickly get back because you have more things that are waiting to be done. When you are sitting in a romantic dinner, you are looking at your watch and in your mind going over all the things that you will do when you get back home.
To spend time is to live in it.
You are spending time when you are living it, when you are enjoying it no matter what you are doing with it because there is not a sweeter realization than that everything is important. Every moment. You need it all. You need your tears and your smiles. You need your bad boss because he will force you to be stronger and stand up for yourself. You need your bubble bath and you need your play time just like you need your office moments and those excel sheets with a ton of data in them. You need your washing of the dishes and looking at how they shine afterward. You need it all and you should enjoy it all. Waiting for the weekend, holiday or vacation to be happy will leave you not being happy even then. If you learn how to appreciate everything, you will be able to completely immerse yourself in that which you prefer and enjoy it much more.
"The bad news is that time flies.
The good news is you're the pilot."
Michael Altshuler
I was once a time chaser. I had my little notebook with the things to do written down and crossed once I would do them. I use to sleep only a couple hours a night and work for more than ten hours. Work that I did not enjoy or want to do. It only cost me my sanity... A couple of years after my psychological breakdown, strong pills and even stronger therapy, I am a new person. A person who enjoys her time and realizes that appreciating little things is wrong because there are no little things. Everything is big and everything is important. I try to enjoy everything (emphasis on try) and I appreciate diversity in my life.
Life is short and time is precious.
Enjoy it while you can.
- not washing your dishes now will not bring the world to an end
- 6-7 hours of sleep is enough
- have a 30min nap every day
- be one step ahead
- an apology goes a long way, learn to say no
- make time for yourself
- learn to delegate
- multitask only if you are a woman
- preparation will make things go smooth
- leave buffers of time between things
- having phone off is not forbidden by law
- always do something while you are waiting
- work smarter not harder
- get up before the Sun does
- control your TV time
- non-essential things can wait
- get a better sense of humour
- things are as fun as you make them
I hope you had a great week and that you are going to have an even better weekend. Enjoy it, smile and spread some love around. Spend time on doing things that you appreciate doing, take care of yourself and do not forget to learn something new each day.
Until next time,
KEEP YOUR SMILE ON!
POST EDIT:
I just learned that there is no such thing as the Chinese language, my mind is officially blown away... Thank you @enisshkurti for being one of my teachers today
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- title pictures are made by me using the CC0 images from pixabay that can be found here
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The old saying that time is money has always stuck with me so I always have looked at time as an investment opportunity, what will I get from using my time in a certain way?
Not all investments are made to gain wealth so wasting time every so often isn't a bad thing as you pointed out. People invest money all the time in the purchasing of insurance hoping to never need to use it, so you could almost say wasting time is some what like purchasing insurance in that it can give you some peace of mind.
Just my thoughts and a small portion of what you covered so well.
Oh, that is a very good analogy actually, wow. Good job with that, yes, it is like purchasing insurance for a peace of mind 💚
Some days I have all the time in the world and I get what I need to do... other days, not so much... it really depends on what my mood is, if I'm feeling productive or not, or other unexpected things. However, at the end of most days... I can sleep well, knowing that I have done what I have!
It all depends on how productive I feel too, there are better days and those not so much hihi, but I think that is normal as long as we are happy with ourselves and as you say can sleep well with it. Thank you for your lovely words 💚
I have a little different perspective now that I've gotten to my age. I'm not at the end, but I know it's there. And will be here sooner rather than later.
So I waste my time fairly wisely. I read. I relish my nap time. Time IS precious so I appreciate it more and more. I think it's the single most valuable commodity that anyone has.
I think Sam and I found someplace yesterday on our walk. We were way out of our ordinary zone and well, I need to do some research to see if I am correct, but my internet has been out for about 12 hours and I haven't been able to. I was forced to read a book. :)
Life is as good as you make it, and let it be. I sure enjoy mine and part of the enjoyment is posts from you. You always make me think, and that's never a waste of time.
Yes indeed, it is always as good and as fun as we make it. Thank you for your kind words, you really are an amazing person and have grown on me and became quite special to me 💚💚💚
I agree with most of the tip except the first one. Dishes need to be done in my kitchen otherwise I have a plague of fruit flies! Still enjoying the moment tho 😉
hahahaha, I understand that. Once a year, ants are migrating or something and we have them all around the kitchen if it is not perfectly clean always :) Enjoy your enjoyment 💚
Really interesting way of looking at time. I do chase time a lot, and I think that's why I love mountain climbing, because once I'm out in nature I tend to get lost in the moment. Time seems to stop, and you often realise you're looking at a scene that has not really changed for centuries, maybe longer.
And by the way, I'm a woman, but I never multitask!
Hihihi, I think you do multitask, maybe not always but at least sometimes, it is in your genes. Some of us as better, some worse, but we all do it. Men, on the other hand, should never do it LOL, joking of course. My hubby is the worst so I always kid about that. I get how being in nature and on those mountains will force you to stop and appreciate the moment. Treasure that and keep on enjoying it. Much love 💚
Maybe I do multitask sometimes, but I do it really badly! Lol...
Always in a hurry?
Fell like you always have too little time?
You are chasing it...
That's what i do, i always feel like i am running all the time and i do not have time for my self, it's also harder for me to relax, and i often suffer from anxiety..not a good life, i think often about it..
My anxiety turned to panic attacks and my panic attacks into clinical depression and severe agoraphobia. Do not be like me LOL, fix it now when it is much more easier then it will be. Make time for yourself, your life is as good as you make it to be, I learned that the hard way and hope you will find joy, passion and love soon. Much love and good luck! 💚
Hey, @zen-art! Love your straight-to-the point oppinion on time matters. We are also keen to use often the Knock on wood! charm and I didn't know where did it come from. Thanks for decoding it. I'm floating quite well over time still waters since a chief manager from our Ljubljana office introduced the Friendly Friday week schedule. You add up a lot to it here! (zagrljaj)
Zagrljaj i tebi draga 💚💚💚
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It's so much better when you look at time this way.. less anxiety!! I live getting older as you do crazy things like get up at 5.30 so you can squeeze as much out of the day as you can.. not just paid work but other things too. Always learning!!!
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Always learning indeed and always adapting I would add, adapting to myself and my needs. Much love honey 💚
I really enjoyed reading your post! Thank you :) I am trying too.
I am glad you enjoyed it, keep trying and smile while you do it 💚