Meaningful Moments
Where is time going! How is it February? I know I harp on about time and how it confuses me a fair bit, but seriously..! In moments it’s in utter abundance and then without warning completely fleeting. Yet the amount of time never changes, all that changes is how we experience and interact with it. We have little control over how much of it we get, and I’m starting to realise that the total amount is not really the point. The point, I think, is not only how we use and spend that time, but more so how we enrich it; squeezing seconds into minutes, and engaging in the moments between and around those seconds.
*puts down matcha latte and floats back to earth*
On a serious note though I have, and continue to be, on a mission to engage more with my time; to make the most of my moments and to be present in them and for them. Some days I succeed and other days I throw mini tantrums and stomp around the flat… ahh balance!
Here are two simple steps that I’m practicing to help me engage with my time that won’t cost you a penny, become a daily burden, or require any (well much) effort.
I also harp on about this a lot, but seriously…
Step one is be okay in your own company, and more than that crave your own company. This is not self indulgent it is a necessity to your own survival. Getting to know yourself is just about the most important thing you can do.
Kick out your people for the day and just be, go for a stroll, buy yourself a fancy lunch (ok that one may cost a penny or two). The thing is whether it’s work, school, love, exercise, or social gatherings, we are around people all the time! Before you know it its 2017 and you’ve been on auto pilot for the last 12 months.
Stopping, breathing and listening allow us to feel what’s really going on. Checking in with yourself is the only way to see if you are being the person you want to be, making healthy choices and doing what is right for you; spending your time wisely. You can only do this if you know who you are, and are comfortable sitting down with that person and having a check-in or at times a telling off.
I can’t push this enough; nobody else can be in charge of your life; your happiness, your direction except you. People can and should enhance and engage and enrich that journey, but you have to take ownership for your life, your time!
So that takes care of you, but what about everyone else?
Step two is practice forgiveness a lot. I know this sounds a little cheesy but it’s something I am trying to do more and more of. (This also happens to be one of the top tips shared by Gabrielle Bernstein’s, LuLu Lemons Global Ambassador)
For me it’s about minimising the junk that steals my time, attention and energy. We all have these little gripes that build throughout the day and before we know it we’re in a mental spiral of negativity. Whether you missed your train, it rained on the walk in, your colleague was a little rude, you then gossiped about that colleague in retaliation, you ate cake on your no cake day, the train home is full of annoying people, your people have left your place in a mess or whatever other serious or non serious gripe you may have.
When those events crawl in to your space try to express your forgiveness and see how it impacts on your mood and releasing you from the pressure of the situations. For example:
I forgive you southern railway for making me late, I forgive you Mother Nature for making me soggy, I forgive myself for gossiping, I forgive myself for over indulgence, I forgive you fellow commuters, I forgive you mucky pups.
I know this seems and feels a little silly, but what it does is allows you to release and let go of the small stressors and pains. This not only gives you back time to be present, focussed and happy but it allows you the space to see what you really need to concern yourself with.
I’ve been practicing this for a little while now. As someone who worries and over thinks just about everything it allows me to let go of some of the mass of daily baggage I carry.
We will all continue to have good days and bad days; the ups and downs of life will take hold of energy and no doubt time. But through engaging positively in the journey, checking in with where we are and letting go of as much as we can, maybe we’ll squeeze out some more meaningful moments.
c-x
ThinkingClarely 