We are all born with a finite budget of time. The fun part is that we don’t know what that budget is. When I was younger, I thought I had all the time in the world. And now, I try to be more thoughtful with it.
When I began embracing myself as an introvert, I became thirstier for meaning. Meaning in my career, meaning in my relationships, meaning in the things I purchase and consume. I simultaneously became less patient with BS and with things done out of obligation instead of joy. I had to dig deep and take inventory of what I felt brought meaning to my life and remove what didn’t. Sometimes the decision was extremely difficult and emotional. Other times, I simply said “Yes” or “No” and felt perfectly fine about it.
We are all time thieves in some way. We take people’s time, whether in small increments or large chunks. We also steal time from ourselves. For me, this usually comes in the form of laziness, depression, or jealousy. My own negativity takes away time I could have spent feeling happy and productive.
In fact, I spent most of my life feeling unworthy, like I was never good enough. I didn’t understand the concept of self-care, of feeling like I was worthy of taking time for myself to relax and have fun. I felt immense guilt when I took days off from work, when I spent money on a massage, when I took a few hours to watch a movie. You name it. Anything that was meant to bring me a sense of fun and relaxation I felt guilty of doing.
It’s been eye-opening to work through those feelings of obligation and guilt with my mental fitness coach. It’s been liberating to set parameters for how I spend my time:
Does it bring me joy?
Is it coming from a place of love?
Has that person earned the right to have my time?
How much time do I want to cap on this?
Replace “time” with any other word, be it money, work, creativity, happiness, sadness, etc. Evaluating in this way has helped me prioritize the important things in my life and has helped me make more meaningful decisions. Don’t let others or yourself rob you of the time in your life. I hear it flies by in the blink of an eye. ♥♥♥
