There is never enough time!
Don’t we all know it to be true, that there is never, ever enough time? I mean absolutely, unquestionably, undeniably true?!
Well, it is surely true when there is something important we need to do! Something important, but perhaps not super urgent. Like, it wouldn’t kill me if I didn’t do it today, or tomorrow, or this week. Heck, I could survive not doing it for a month, a quarter, a year, … a lifetime?
Now, hold on: this thing I need to do really IS important! It is something that would truly move the needle in my life. Like that exercise routine to attain the fit, lean, strong, flexible body I have long desired. Or like that website or Facebook page I need to finish so that my business can actually start showing-up online. Or like the various home projects pleading for my attention that – once addressed – would dramatically improve my marriage! Now that I think about it, there are quite a few important things I want to get done! If only there was time!
Maybe, I’ll have more time tomorrow! Yet, somehow, that particular tomorrow never seems to come!
This is called being STUCK! True, you may be very busy and not feel stuck at all. You may even take offense at the suggestion. It is not as if you are sitting around doing nothing. Not as if you are just goofing off to spite yourself! Yet, you cannot deny that things you swear are important to you are simply not getting done: you are stuck in time!
Once you come to grips with the fact (or likelihood) that you are stuck in time, feeling that your important goals are at the mercy of the clock and the whim of life’s circumstances and conditions, you can begin to open up to the possibility that maybe, just maybe, some of the tasks and activities that you are doing are not quite as important as some of those tasks that are not getting done.
Ask yourself:
- What is getting in the way of working on the goals that are really important to me but are not really getting done?
- Is anything I am currently doing (today or in general) less important that what I really want to do and that I have control over?
An obvious example might be watching TV or surfing the internet every evening to “relax and wind down”. If this applies to you, might there be something more important to you that is not being addressed and that might also provide a way to “relax”? Sometimes, simply having time to focus intently on what you love can be just what the doctor ordered. Sometimes, the feeling that we “need to relax” is actually because we are not engaging in what really matters to us and we are engaging in things that really don’t matter to us. Now that can be exhausting!
Of course, there are those results that really are important to us, that we can envision and have a deep desire for, but we don’t act on them, because it seems so daunting to actually get there. We love the idea of the beautiful new home but dread the thought of the blood, sweat and tears it would take (probably over years) to actually arrive at that dream. And the same can happen for something that might take only a week, or even just an hour, of focused attention. A blog post, for example. I really want to have that blog post written… but can I get myself to do it?
Is it really a “lack of time” that is keeping me from doing what’s important, or am I simply filling the time with not-so-important (or utterly unimportant) tasks, because though I crave having the 6-pack abs, I am not sufficiently motivated to do the crunches? Even though it might be just 15 minutes five times a week. Of course not! I hate doing those horrid crunches, and besides that, I just don’t have the time…
How easily the important becomes the ignored, except we can’t ever really ignore it, because while the important thing done brings satisfaction, the important thing left undone nags you ‘til it’s done!
As Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: “The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions.”
What Emerson leaves out is that the stretch can be very painful – mentally, emotionally, even physically – when that new idea is something we decide is important in our life but we never seem to get around to the committed, consistent action that would actualize it. It can feel liberating when our mind is simply expanding to the new ideas that are invited in, but it can hurt like hell when we enthusiastically invite an idea in, make it important to us and then keep trying to kick it out the door whenever it seeks to expand within us – whenever it seeks expression and actualization in our life!
It’s bad enough when we invite-in all of those ideas we now know are not important. If we take an honest look, we will see that many ideas that have taken-up residence in our lives would not be welcomed were they to show up at our door today. Important or utterly foolish, once we’ve invited the ideas in, we’re better off figuring out how to live – and thrive – with them than to waste time trying to shove them out; ‘cause – on some level – they’re here to stay!
No, this is not the time to give up! It is the time to open up space and time in your life by letting go of the wasted energy and time that is being plowed into bad (or at least, less important) ideas in your life and turn your attention to the ideas that really light you up.
The “trick” is learning how to bring light to every step along the way, ultimately leading to that brilliant result – letting that light not only illuminate the path ahead but also create a kind of glare around it that sharpens the focus on your true path and obscures what would otherwise be distractions.
We have become accustomed to “blinders” that keep us from focusing on what is really important. Now we are creating “visioners” that guide us to what we really, truly want to see!
Following is a brief, simple practice to build these “visioner” muscles and help bring what is most important in your life into sight, into reality.
- Grab a pad and pen, and find a place you can be alone and unbothered for at least a few minutes (bathroom break, if necessary!). Take more time, if possible, but even a few minutes will begin the shift toward freedom.
- Get comfortable in your chair (or throne), feet firmly on the floor.
- Close your eyes and take a few long deep breaths, as you clear your mind and settle into this space of inner exploration.
- Think of ONE idea (dream, vision, goal) that is truly important in any area your life (health, relationships, work, finances, spirituality,…) but that you are currently not manifesting in a satisfying way.
- Allow yourself to imagine – to see, to feel, to taste, to hear – this idea as fully manifest in your life as best you can. Don’t strain … just allow and enjoy the process, coming as close as you can to experiencing the dream of this idea as being real in your life.
- See a light, like a spotlight shining on this dream. See your dream idea illuminated in brilliant light. See the color, feel the heat, allow the light to amplify and clarify the idea of your vision.
- Then imagine yourself being lifted into the air until you are floating and looking down upon your vision.
- Notice that you can see both your vision in the future as well as elements that make up today… the room you are in, the activities going on around you and activities that you yourself might be engaged in if not hovering above!
- And you can see a space between today and your future vision. Allow that space to be whatever size seems to fit the journey from today to the realization of that particular vision.
- Now, imagine the brilliant light of your dream to begin moving toward today in a beautiful line of light that clearly links today to the dream, the vision, the important idea that is manifest in your future.
- Is anything showing up along the path of light? If so, understand that it could be a clue, a step in getting from here to the future vision.
- Don’t try to force anything, just allow… whatever comes up is totally fine.
- If you are distracted by thoughts that seem totally unrelated to your vision, just let them go and come back to focusing on the path of light that links today with this particular dream idea.
- Now see that light getting brighter on today, and stay in that well-lit space (not blinding but beautifully illuminated) for at least several seconds, as you slowly descend back into the day, back into your chair, and once again feel your feet solidly grounded on the floor.
- Take another long, deep breath and slowly open your eyes.
- Now ask yourself: What can I see TODAY in the trail of light that leads to my dream? Without thinking, begin free-writing and keep going for at least 30 seconds.
Did this illuminate a step for you along the path to this particular vision? Provide any clues? If yes, now you know a way to manifest the invisible bridge to your dreams and can even begin to create an illuminated plan for getting there. If no, I hope you will at least have found some freedom in the exercise and realize you have begun to break the chains of the prison that has kept you feeling stuck in time.
May your day be FREE in time and brilliant in Vision!