Exactly Enough Time

Do you feel like there just isn’t enough time to fit “play” into your life?

The “To Do” list is overflowing, deadlines loom, and friends and family clamor for attention. I was feeling that way when I read a quote by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.: “Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Louis Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein.” Wow! What would I do if I had exactly the amount of time I needed? Then and there I decided to try an experiment. I switched my language from “I don’t have enough time” to “I have exactly the time I need.”

I was living in Hawaii when I first tried this and I also decided to embrace “Hawaiian Time.” For those unfamiliar with Hawaiian Time, I’ll share my favorite description found in A Little Book of Aloha. Clifford Nae’ole defined it as “the ability to simply be still and listen to your heartbeat, to stop and observe a beautiful rainbow or to watch the dolphins dance with the ocean. I would make this a priority over getting to a destination on time – the ability of observation, appreciation, and relaxation.”

Saying the time mantra and embracing Hawaiian Time has worked for me. I now make a point of watching sunsets, looking for the unexpected in nature, listening to the birds and I say to myself, “I have exactly the time I need.” My lesson learned? When I’m feeling behind, I repeat my time mantra – “I have exactly the time I need” and I find that even with late starts, I arrive on time; projects are completed; friends and family are accounted for; AND, I have time to stop, relax and spend time in ways that engage and re-energize me. Take the challenge this week to change the way you think about time. Try out my time mantra and let me know what happens for you.

This Week’s Challenge:

Today, I’d like you to take some of the time you’ve saved and spend it. Take out a pen and some paper, find a quiet spot, and write down a list of things you enjoy. The list may be long or it may be short. It doesn’t matter. What’s important is that you allow the items to flow from your heart onto the paper, again without judgment. How’d it feel?

Now is the time for action. Take one item from your list and plan a play date for yourself. If others are involved, fine, but don’t let it change what you have chosen to do …a nd only include those who will whole-heartedly support your enjoyment of what you’ve chosen. This exercise is totally about you and your joy. In the words of Pablo Coehlo, “One day you will wake up and there won’t be any more time to do the things you’ve always wanted. Do it now.”