Tick Tock

“You don’t have time for that.”

“Time is money.”

“Stop wasting time!”

“The clock is ticking.”

“Now is the time.”

Our society is time-obsessed. We never seem to have enough for the things we want/need to do. We all have the same amount of time but most of us feel like we would appreciate another 4 hours in the day…or 8. This creates a very negative vibe around anything that doesn’t happen at our perceived speed of need.

Why do we villainize things that are “slow”? Why does our patience wear thin in the process?

We are so conditioned to having things at our disposal that anything less initiates a stress response in us.

Things that take time are not the enemy. In fact, they are generally a lot more valuable than those that happen quickly. In my basement, I have two end tables and a coffee table that I got from Ikea. I paid less than $100 for all three pieces. They are light as a feather and have little to no resale value. This is because they are made from sawdust that is glued together and stamped into shape by a machine alongside 50,000 other pieces exactly alike. Contrast this furniture set with what sits in my parents’ living room: beautiful handmade Amish pieces that were made by a real person, from real wood. My parents ordered these pieces from the shop and waited until the craftsman completed them. They are more valuable today than the day they purchased them and will continue to appreciate as long as my parents own them.

This is a pretty stark example but you could find similar points in art, agriculture, medicine, relationships and food. Homemade food just tastes better. It takes a long time to prepare and the person eating it can tell the difference. This is why people who enjoy preparing great food get irritated when others wolf it down without savor and appreciation. It took a lot of time and work to prepare – appreciation and time in consumption reflects acknowledgement of that investment.

We need to stop looking at time as a curse – some sort of jail that always screams our inadequacies back at us. When we start feeling crunched for time, some worthy questions may be:

Am I spending my time on things or investing my time into things? Will I see a return on this investment or are these minutes truly gone forever?

If I’m feeling short on time, do I need to re-evaluate my schedule and learn to gracefully say “no” to those things that are causing more stress than joy?

What am I creating with my time? Is it truly valuable?

And the questions requiring the most honesty in answering…Am I impatient because I believe the world revolves around me? Do I have a posture of grace toward those who don’t (and aren’t obligated to) operate on my schedule? Am I missing important things in my life because I am rushing thru it?

Lean forward,

Bekka