Time broken down into deed/task is how most of us operate. In a work environment we have a sense of how long it takes us to complete a task and schedule our work days accordingly. When in our home environments we do the same. Socially and through community activities like volunteering, attending events, participating in groups/teams and the like, our time involvement is again broken down into increments of what we can hope to accomplish within a specific framework of time. ( we have to get home to make dinner, let the dog out, return that phone call, pay those bills…..)Technically speaking, time is the dictator of our lives and what we do with it reflects our personal beliefs around the value of it.
Last week I had a wonderful conversation with a colleague who is getting married. I found myself giving her advice that my beautiful husband and I used on our wedding day. It was simply this – during your day make sure to stop at least once, hold hands and take a mental picture – I assured her that this picture will last her a lifetime as it has for both my husband and I. I am not sure who gave us that advice but I continue to pass it on 16 years later. On the busiest of days, like a wedding, we tend to lean into the tasks, and forget to truly enjoy the ride of the experience itself, my thought is let’s try to enjoy the ride just a little bit more. Of course, we don’t manage to do that very often do we? If we did then the self-help industry would be defunct and there would be no inspirational folks barraging us with the importance of meditation, slowing down, appreciating every moment and valuing each second for the precious gift that it is. Few, if any of us, are given the gift to fully celebrate and digest moments in our day through a lens of gratitude and satiety.
So how do you measure your time and is there a way for us to move from the focus on outcomes (accomplishing the task) to a focus on process (enjoying the ride)? For me the measurement comes from actively acknowledging moments that ‘make my heart sing’, those yummy opportunities where I can carve out a moment of bliss or beauty in the simplest of things. This is no easy feat for a self proclaimed task oriented individual, but holding onto a moment allows me to savour it forever just like on my wedding day. I still remember the loving faces, the smell of peonies in full bloom, the sultry air of a humid June day, the lights sparkling through the garden and the laughter of those most dear to us. A simple point and click and 16 years later I continue to pull it into focus. And because of this experience I continue to point and click on a daily basis – I simply stop myself in a moment and take a mental picture……resulting in a singing heart that can and does enjoy the ride!
It is a very personal and subjective thing to think about time in this way, but ask yourself and REALLY think about it – is there a better way for you to move your focus in life to one of finding simple moments to enjoy the ride? Go ahead, make your heart sing- Point and Click!
“A good snapshot stops a moment from running away.” Eudora Welty
Submitted by: Nancy Brownsberger
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