my relationship with time
I used to worry a lot about wasting time. And now, it never really crosses my mind.
What changed?
Well, it's not because I became more 'productive.' It's not because I got a fancy system sorted in place (that now I run all my life through and know that I'm using my time optimally).
It's not because I suddenly woke up one morning and realised I was wasting my energy worrying about wasting my time.
Nothing changed overnight. But what I did eventually come to see was that I don't need to spend my energy trying to control my time, as much as I need to be in relationship with it.
My relationship with time was, to put it mildly, uneasy. It often felt like a tug of war. Give and take. Transactional.
I would worry I didn't have enough or that I was wasting it. Like precious sand slipping through my fingers.
We're often told to think of time as a resource. And while that's true and useful in many cases, it's not how I want be with it. It’s not how I want to experience and live with it day to day.
Let's say you're hanging out with one of your favourite people. You have the whole afternoon together.
While you may be aware you have a specific amount of time to be together, you probably don't want that to be the only thing you think about while you're together.
You might want to use the knowledge of the time you have to inform what you do.
But once you're there, you're there.
You're in the relationship. You're there for the laughter, the shared jokes, the liveliness between the two of you.
The time that you're spending, let's say today, is not merely about the time you're spending.
It's the quality of the relationships within that time. And I include the relationship you have with yourself. The time you spend with yourself, today, is not simply a 'resource.' It's an experience.
Have a think about how you want to use it. But once you're there, be in the relationship.
Notice it. Witness it. Tend to it as it needs tending to. Give it – and you – room to flourish.
Much love,
Kathryn
PS. Interested in changing your relationship with time; and the relationship you experience with yourself? Here’s what we can do together.