More time in the day?

I started this journey of finding my heart about a year ago and started this blog about 8 months ago. I’ve discovered more about myself, discovered the value of time, and discovered love. It has been a very fruitful year. Life really is good! Time has been on my mind often this week. As a school teacher, the beginning of the school year can be quite an adjustment with time. Most years there never seems to be enough time. However this year, now that I value my time, taking time for myself and those I love, it seems I have an abundance of time. It’s a bit surreal, honestly. Now that I am taking more time for myself, I am finding that I am actually getting more done. I used to think the more time I put into work, the more I would get done, but my personal life suffered as I had very little time left to spare. Now I am thoroughly enjoying more time for myself, putting in less time for work, yet getting more done at work, more done at home and still have wonderful excess of time. I find myself doing chores and errands with ease and appreciation rather than frantic multi-tasking. All tasks at work are done with attention to detail and success. It’s almost hard to believe I spent so many years on the go, feeling productive but nothing else. Now I feel productive, successful, happy, peaceful and content.

(See February post on Time Affluence)

Bedroom Tents and Swingsets…

I spent the weekend with my two and six year old nephews. We did an awful lof of playing, tossing them onto the bed, chasing bad guys, building tents out of sheets, and taking on the playground. Nothing fills my heart more with love and joy than getting to step into their world, a world full of imagination and play, a world free to laugh and smile, whisper and scream, a world where the more wild and goofy you act, the more they love you.

I remember that world when I was young, before I created a filter to protect me from being judged. I remember building tent cities with my siblings, so many of us that we needed a city, not just one tent. We had that entire living room covered with blankets and sheets draped over stools, creating room after room for our enjoyment. We had a bank, a school, a store, bedrooms for naps, everything our young hearts thought we would need in a grown up world…and we would play for hours on end until mom got home and told us to clean up that mess, that mess that was our world for the day.

It’s interesting how creating a “tent” in a bedroom can create such an escape. My nephews and I seemed to travel thousands of miles and thousands of years away from that bedroom when we crawled into that tent; I know my siblings and I felt like pioneers colonizing the great frontier in our tent city (okay, we may have watched too much Little House on the Prairie back then). We were free to be and act however we wanted when we allowed our imaginations and our hearts’ desires to lead us.

I let my imagination and my heart be free this weekend with my nephews, most of the time. When we tackled the playground, I found myself back in the grown up world, watching over them, making sure they were safe. It’s an important role, but as I watched them run, jump, slide and swing, I found myself wishing I could do the same. My nephew called out to me to watch how high he could swing. I worried he could get hurt, and then remembered when I tried to swing so high, wind blowing my hair forward and back, using my whole body to push and pull for that extra height. I watched my nephew pushing and pulling, hair in his face and blown back, grinning ear to ear with dimples larger than life. Once it seemed he could reach no higher, he eased off, let the swing takeover, and enjoyed his victory. At that moment, I knew I needed to get on that swingset. I needed to swing, too. Brief adult worries flashed through my head: What if I’m too heavy? What if the swing breaks? What if I get hurt? (At my age, I can’t afford to get hurt; the healing process takes too long.)  I tossed those worries away and carefully, slowly sat on that swing right next to my nephew. It didn’t break. One worry down. I started to swing, enough to feel the wind pushing my hair back and forth. It still didn’t break. My nephew started his climb to the sky again, challenging his aunt to go with him. The swing still didn’t break…but I just couldn’t quite free myself from the worry of getting hurt in order to participate in the swinging competition. I did what all good aunts do, I gave the win to my nephew and praised him for his astronomical success, all the while enjoying the swaying of the swing, the wind in my hair, the  pride on my nephew’s face, and the chance to swing free in this adult society.

Time Affluence

Isn’t that a great term? It’s my new favorite phrase for the moment, from Happiness 101 with Tal Ben-Shahar. Time affluence, as in the abundance of time, making time worthy, valuable. To me, it means valuing the time in my life spent with people and things that bring me joy, happiness, intellectual and spiritual growth. I used to work so much, both because I loved my job and because I needed to escape my life. Now that my life is blessed with peace and happiness, my work has become less important and my personal time more valuable, more affluent. I find myself nowadays getting more done while at work and leaving work on time so that when I go home that time is mine. I’ve placed a value on my time that encourages me to know my limits and know when to say no. I choose to progress towards time affluence and, with that choice, life is more meaningful, more enjoyable, more peaceful!

Check out the link below for 10 ways to boost time affluence:

http://johnplaceonline.com/time-management/why-time-affluence-matters-and-10-ways-to-boost-yours/