Knowing that we only have a finite amount of time a gift because it helps us figure out what matters. It helps us understand what we want to do and who we want to spend our time with. I was recently offered an opportunity – a wonderful opportunity – but when I put it through the filter of “is this really how I want to spend the next few years that I will never be able to get back?” it was very easy to turn it down. If 2016 taught us anything, it’s that time is the most precious and sacred thing we have. Let’s honor our own time and the time of others as the priceless gift that it is.
Tag: time
Wonder: How to use time to your advantage
A few weeks ago I read the book The Power of When. It’s a quick read that helps each reader understand their chronotype—when they have maximum brain power and do their best work. I’ve read books like this before but this is the first one that’s helped me really understand when and why I do my best work. It’s not a perfect match for me, but in terms of my sleep and work hours, it’s a pretty good fit.
Like about half of people, I’m a bear:
- I like to get 7-8 hours of sleep and wake easily once I’ve rested enough (I can’t tell you what a relief it is to have this after years of insomnia)
- I do my best work between 10am and noon
- a walk before lunch and a quick 20-minute nap or some meditation around 2pm help to keep up my energy
- by 3pm I’m ready to leave my desk and be with people
- I love food
- I love my friends
- Have a can-do attitude and enjoy having time to relax
In the new year, I’m going to try to make this schedule more of a reality so that 2017 becomes my best year yet. If you want to take a 45-second quiz time find out which of the 4 personality types you are, check out: http://thepowerofwhenquiz.com/
Wonder: A much-needed pep talk and 5 things to be grateful for every day
“You aren’t doing great, but you aren’t drowning and that is something.” ~The Secret Life of Pets (Duke to Max)
My sweet friend, Cara, has been doing an exercise on Facebook that I really love. Every day she posts 5 things she’s grateful for. These aren’t the same, stale, stereotypical responses to questions like this. She gets down into the details. These are 5 practical things that made her life better that day. They are often small things, things that we overlook all too often, and I always look forward to reading her posts. With Christmas around the bend and the new year not far behind, I’m inspired to take up this idea, too. So on my social media platforms, you’ll see a nod to 5 things that I appreciate that day. Because look, things may not be better, but recognizing the good makes me feel better, and that, as Duke would say, is something.
Wonder: In each pause, I hear the call
“In each pause, I hear the call.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
This weekend, I took another pause. It was a long week last week, filled with its fair share of frustration in a number of ways, so I tried my best to sit back this weekend, rest, and recuperate. I caught up with a lot of friends to talk about some ideas I have, watched movies, and made a lot of delicious food. I also spent a significant amount of time sleeping and snuggling with Phin. And something great happened by Sunday night: I saw a pretty complete and happy picture of a way forward. It seemed like every magazine I leafed through, every commercial I saw, and every idea I heard had some sort of significance to what I’m doing and where I’m going. Like little guideposts, they were showing me the way. Too often, I’ve thought of pausing as unproductive. It’s not; it’s vital. I’m excited it’s becoming a regular habit of mine. Pause, and be glad.
Wonder: Harry Reid’s advice on how to spend our time
“Do the choices we make about how we spend our time keep us in touch with what we believe in, and what is real in our own lives?” ~Harry Reid, retiring Senator from Nevada
Today I read Senator Reid’s farewell published in the New York Times.Though most of his letter addresses the 100 Senators who will be in session come January 2017, this statement about how we spend our time applies to all of us. It’s something I am deeply considering as we round the corner on the new year. It’s something that will cause me to make some big changes in the coming year because ultimately how we spend our days is how we spend our lives. Moments add up to hours to days to months to years. I don’t want to waste any of mine in any way—not for comfort, ease, or the sake of a paycheck. It has never been easier in the history of the world for us to do incredible things that help build a world that we’re proud to call home. And if I’m not spending my days aspiring to that, then I am wasting my time. So onward and upward with a full and purposeful heart.
(And one comment on Harry Reid’s letter: he will be leaving the Senate for the final time when this new administration flips and that departure seems tinged with a mixture of relief and grief that he’s going. He never envisioned Donald Trump as President, particularly since Trump lost the popular vote by almost 3 million votes. (A new record!) I’m grateful for his service and admire his example of how to make a difficult system simpler, more efficient, and more effective. It’s not an easy thing to do, and he should be celebrated for his role in moving closer to a Washington that works.)
Wonder: Time for 2017 planning
I use December to take stock of my life and to make plans for 2017. Already, I can see some exciting changes and opportunities on the horizon. It will take work and planning to bring them to life, and luckily those actions are in my control. Now’s the time.
Wonder: Write one word at a time
“There’s only one way to write a book: one word at a time.” ~R. Edward Freeman
It took me two years to write my book, Where the Light Enters. Books have a long life, in their creation and, hopefully, in the hearts and minds of readers. Two years can feel like a long time to work on one single project. Even at my most frustrated times, I was determined to push through and finish. During that process, I often thought about my professor, mentor, and friend, Ed Freeman, the author of many books that have influenced how I see the world and my role in it, as a writer and as a business person. In every moment, all I had to do was write the next word. That mantra helped me keep going.
You might be in the middle of a project now. Maybe you’ve been working on it for a long time. Maybe you feel like you’re spinning in circle, going nowhere fast. These are the times that require more attention, not less. These are times when we must double down, not run away. I know it’s tempting to chase the next new thing. I know the exhilaration born of a new start and a blank page. Don’t quit now. Don’t throw in the towel. Resist the urge to run. Sit. Breathe. And see what happens. Let your drive to tell a story as honestly and clearly as possible be greater than your fear of falling short. Just take it one word as a time.
Wonder: The greatest lesson of life
One of the greatest blessings of being Phineas’s mom is that he makes me remember that every moment counts. There isn’t a single walk, snuggle, or smile that I take for granted with him. Yesterday when I had to take him to the ER for his back again, I was reminded, painfully so, that we have only so much time and that every day is a gift that we are never promised. Each day deserves the best we can give. There isn’t any time to waste. While I wish that realization wasn’t so heavy, maybe it needs to be. Maybe that truth is so significant that we need to feel the weight of it to really understand it.
For the next few days I’ll be home for most of the time monitoring Phineas to make sure his medication and rest is working. I’ll be writing, doing yoga, and meditating on just how lucky I am to care for a being that has taught me the most important lesson of life with absolute certainty—that we must do as much good as we can wherever we are with whatever we’ve got, and be grateful for the opportunity to do so.
Wonder: It’s always a good time to pursue your dream
“Hold fast to dreams for it dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams for if dreams go, life is a barren field frozen with snow.” ~Langston Hughes
The guy I’m meant to be with believes in dreams as much as I do. On Sunday I went on a date with a new guy. He talked so passionately about food policy and public policy, the field that he studied for his PhD so I was surprised when he said he was an examiner at the patent office. I asked him why he wasn’t pursuing his passion around food in some way, even through hobbies and in his free time, and his response bummed me out: “At this point in my life, I’ve accepted that the best I can do is have a job I don’t hate.” Ouch! This person will never possibly understand me or appreciate my belief in dreams.
I’m a firm believer in the idea that we come across the people we do, when we do, for a very important reason. Though this guy and I are roughly the same age, we are miles apart in terms of how we think about life, our dreams, and our purpose. His response made me believe in my path more than ever, and strengthened my resolve to find someone who see dreams and life the way that I do. I can’t imagine ever giving up on my dreams. Even if I don’t achieve all of them, the pursuit is more than worth it. And so is yours. Please don’t give up. We can all do better than just having a job we don’t hate.
Wonder: It’s time to dream bigger
We put a fair amount of time and effort into shielding ourselves from disappointment by shrinking our dreams. What if we just realized that we are strong enough to roll with the punches, whatever they are and however often they come? And what if we redeployed the energy we spend on shielding ourselves from disappointment into actually hoping for and working for the best possible outcome? What if we took that energy to dream bigger and then make those dreams come true? Let’s do that. Let’s expand our view of what we think is possible, what we believe we can do, and how far we think we can go. And then let’s encourage other people to do the same. Dream it, and then bring it to life.
Christa Avampato 