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Take Back Your Time
If you like this article:
"In this world, there are two
times.
There is mechanical time and there is body time …
The first is unyielding, predetermined.
The second makes up its mind as it goes along …
Each time is true, but the truths are not the same."
-Albert Einstein
Taking back your time is a theme for Mood and Energy Management.
An organization dedicated to bringing social and political awareness to the take back your time issue is TAKE BACK YOUR TIME - a non-partisan initiative to challenge the epidemic of overwork, over-scheduling and time famine that now threatens our health, our families and relationships, our communities and our environment. You can read more about the movement at http://www.simpleliving.net/timeday/default.asp
As I see it, at the root of taking back your time is a call to return to your natural rhythms.
In watching one of the news programs reporting on the Asia disaster I saw an interview with a fisherman. His village lived on the edge of the water and - according to the report – the villagers were more attuned to nature than most. The fisherman said that people in his village heard a sound that they were not used to coming from the ocean. And they noticed the birds becoming very excited. They paid attention to these disturbances in their natural surroundings, heeded them, and fled in time. No one in the fisherman’s village died.
Okinawan elders live in one of the oldest cultures in the world. Okinawan culture has a particular way of viewing time. They call it Okinawa time - where life unfolds at its own pace. Okinawans respect and live according to the natural rhythms of life around them. Processes take their natural time and there is no push to rush or hurry them so that they fit into an agenda based on mechanical time. Living by Okinawa time is thought to significantly contribute to the long and healthy lives of the elders.
In the Okinawa culture this is more than a subjective feeling. They live by brining the concept into objective reality. It is common place for starting and ending times of public, major events - such as lectures, symposiums, parties, business meetings - to be delayed – "until the time is right" – until all comes together naturally in the most appropriate harmony. When that harmony is achieved the event begins and ends.
I have been coaching a client who is trying to figure out if she should go back to school to get a job promotion. Typically, these kinds of decisions give this client angst. She can spend endless hours weighing the pros and cons trying to figure out the right decision. In the end, she just gives up exhausted and goes for the path that everyone thinks she ought to take.
She did not want to repeat that process with this decision. She had a sense that something else was going on more basic than just deciding about career advancement.
In our first coaching conversation, I asked her what her life purpose was - after all if you are going to decide on a career advancement you ought to know what that is in service to.
Immediately she replied that she always thought her life purpose had something to do with raising a family and taking care of children. But of course, that could not be it – in this day and age – there had to be more. It had to be something like becoming a doctor, or getting her Ph.D. or becoming a lawyer.
Often people don’t recognize their own extraordinary brilliance.
Over the next 4 months we spent most of our time understanding what it is that she really wanted in her life. In the end she took back her time by accepting that what she really did want in her life was to be a mother. She was free to make lots of cool choices about her career but her focus and her energy were dedicated to raising a family and being a mom and this is how she wanted to use her time.
We are all here for only a short time – even the Okinawan elders, who commonly live to be over 100 years old.
The time we are given is OUR time. It is the only time we have and it would be beneficial for us - and our communities - to use it wisely. It is our own time and is not to be given away to circumstances, situations or to others unwisely.
The tsunami disaster has crystallized my own resolve. In addition, to making contributions and sending prayers and healing, I see with renewed clarity my job is providing resources to help women reconnect to their natural rhythms – helping women each find their self and take back the time they are given and using it as they really want.
When a woman reunites with what she really wants - heeds and embraces that direction - life unfolds at its own pace. When harmony is reached events begin and end on time for the benefit of all.
Taking back your time is about learning to manage your energy according to your natural rhythms rather than about trying to manage mechanical time.
Here are some suggestions for managing your energy better and taking back your time today:
- Listen for what it is you really want to do in the moment. Just recognize what it is.
- Remind yourself "I do not have to hurry and rush. I have time to do what I am doing."
- Pay attention to how much time it actually takes you to eat your lunch – rather than how much time you have to eat your lunch. Which would you rather have in your life? It is your time and you can choose.
- Actually, do something you really want to do.
- If you find yourself reacting to a situation or circumstances – just stop for 3 minutes and pay attention to what really is happening. Then take your time back and chose what you really want to do.
© Copyright 1997 - 2008 by Mary Ann Copson and Evenstar. All rights reserved.
About the Author:
Mary Ann Copson is the founder of the Evenstar Mood & Energy Wellness Center for Women. With Master's Degrees in Human Development and Psychology and Counseling, Mary Ann is a Certified Licensed Nutritionist; Certified Holistic Health Practitioner; Brain Chemistry Profile Clinician; and a Health, Wellness and Lifestyle Coach. Reconnect to your physical, emotional, mental, psychological and spiritual natural rhythms at
http://evenstaronline.com
