“Half of the troubles of this lIfe can be traced to saying yes too quickly and not saying no soon enough” – Josh Billings (quoted from the book, Essentialism) We have more control over our lives than we think.
These unprecedented times in the form of crisis-oriented have positioned us to face the questions that revolve around a concept that is precious but we seem not to have enough of … TIME.
We’ve used work, schedules, and the busyness of life as reasons why we can not accomplish seemingly the weekly to-do list. But then, through a global natural disaster, the Covid – 19 aka the coronavirus, came along, forced a world freeze, and now TIME had a different lens?
Truth is we never needed a global pandemic to make time. All we had to do was exercise our control over our own lives. Sound simple right? What about this: The coronavirus pandemic should have shown us that we didn’t say “No” soon enough. For example, we were so scared of what it would cost us to miss some time at work that we couldn’t see what working all the time cost us. Lesson: We can survive by doing less. That’s what the book, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown, is all about. The author goes into the crevices of time to teach us how to live an intentional life by trimming away the fat.
Has Covid-19 made you reexamine what’s essential? Now that the world has begun to stretch out of bed, have you felt yourself going back to feeling or being busy? “The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of none essentials” – Lin Yutang I heard of one story of a father going in to say goodnight to his daughter. The daughter asked him, “Are you coming to say goodbye because I won’t see you in a few days?” He’d travel so much before the pandemic that his daughter thought that a simple goodnight was a goodbye. One couple was being interviewed on a podcast. They were asked how have they been enjoying one another in this quarantine. The couple replied that in 20 years of being together they’ve never spent this much time with each other. They said it was refreshing and fun but spending this time with one another for the remainder of their careers is less likely. What did this couple do: They foreshadowed that their lives will revert back to pre-pandemic, no respite. I am in the belief that we have the right to choose what we do with our time. Destiny is a design destination. We can put routines and habits in place to steer our ships on the course we want. Societal, Familial, YOUR expectations would cause you to believe that “NO” equates to a “loss” when it’s actually the complete opposite – its an answer, just as “Yes”, and it increases the control and self-preservation factor to where we are clear about the direction of our owns lives.
I anticipate that through the “fog” and ambiguity of this pandemic, a new perspective is birthed. Questions: Has your perspective about TIME changed during this pandemic? Let us hear your voice, our community wants to hear from you!
Written by: Q. EdmondsM.O.T.M. StoryTeller
Stock image by Miguel Bruna
