Remember how summer stretched ahead of you back in the day? School let out and it felt as if there was endless time for doing….whatever. My summers were blessed. We’d load up the car the day after school let out and head up to Maine. There was sailing for weeks on end up and down the coast. Loading up on armfuls (really) of books at the local library with its big lawn and serious white columns (and staffed by a gentle, humorous librarian with little grey braids that wrapped up over her head). Picking berries on the islands; the smell of wild roses wafting across the saltwater. Digging clams in the cold mud (to this day I will expound on the swiftness of the hunted clam). Diving into water so cold it gave you an ice cream headache. All this. Mostly what I remember is the time. Eight long glorious weeks of it.
(Many) years later, I am living with more free time in my day and with more freedom to choose my activities (again, I am blessed. I know this.) I can decide who I want to share my time with and I have the time to focus on interests and passions feed my soul. Writing, painting, learning, gardening. It’s beautiful. And it comes with sacrifice and is not always comfortable at all. There’s the little voice in my head (sometimes actually quite a bombastic voice) that insists I ought to be more productive/practical/proactive and is there a p-word for making more money? Still…it’s my choice and it is one I am making freely. I recommit to it often.
Recently, I heard an interview with time management expert Oliver Burkeman, about his new book: 4000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals. To be honest, I don’t remember much about the interview because once he explained the title I got caught up in too much math. 4000 weeks adds up to just about 79 years, our average allotted time on this planet. I’m pretty sure he went on about the preciousness of each moment but I just couldn’t hear him over the clamor of my own mathematical calculations. I’m 62. That’s a lot of weeks lived and less to go. It is as simple as that. If I live another 20 years I have 1040 weeks left.
I don’t know about you but that feels pretty puny. Suddenly summer (and everything) feels shorter and even more precious.
And yes, enjoy the moment, yes take time for gratitude, yes appreciate madly, deeply, passionately your loved ones and friends. All that. And. What about taking these next ephemeral weeks, let some things go and pick up others?
Or what about taking a moment to consider how you’d like your life to look in the near(ish) future and seeing what groundwork you might want to do right now? For example, one of our clients knows she wants to do some deep Envisioned Future work as she makes a big transition. She starts this work in the fall -- and meanwhile? She is setting up a contemplative, private space in her house where she will be able to meditate, journal, read and just be without interruption. She’s making space (physically/mentally/emotionally) for her heart and her spirit to grow and shift.
As for letting things go and taking on others. Do this…. Print out a blank weekly calendar. But don’t write down a series of to-dos. Instead, turn the paper over to the blank side and write out what you really want to do. What you know makes your heart sing and maybe some things that you have let drift by the wayside. Take your time.
Then, when you feel that you have everything captured, circle five near term, concrete things you could do this week and next. NOW turn the paper over and look at all that blank space! Put your five things in a specific day. If one of them is to journal more, put that in for each day. Be clear as you can about day/time/frequency. NOW you can add grocery shopping, laundry and floor mopping. It’s time to recognize what matters before time runs away from you.
If you are interested in thinking through your own Beautiful Future, reach out to us. Let’s make a plan together!
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