Weather. Do you ever feel rushed and always “on the go”? We all have the same 24-hour day. We all have the same number of days in a year. Time is the great equalizer of life; no matter your life situation, everyone is equal in this regard. Yet for a growing number of people, there simply aren’t enough hours in the day. There are a multitude of responsibilities, pressures and demands. And as if that were not enough, there are so many activities to participate in; stimulation here, there and everywhere. No wonder “spiritual attention deficit disorder” exists today, with so many forced and unforced distractions. Time seems to be ‘enemy’. Why are we so hungry for time? Why do we feel so stretched out?

In Western culture, this kind of time pressure seems to have crept in over the years; particularly with the advent of 24/7 living. we want what we want now if not yesterday. There are obvious advantages; You usually don’t have to wait for one.

However, the culture that looks for things “now” sucks us in, doesn’t it? Who these days is not attracted by the urgency of life? This creates a hustle that you are prepared to pile important things on top of important things: a ‘can do’ attitude prevails for all things. He has to, to survive. Is the hustle to the point of insanity? Do we suddenly do these things because we no longer feel comfortable in our own skin? Is it escapism? For some perhaps, although many would say the opposite. We would love have the time get in touch with our inner being; we just don’t have it: time.

Today’s society embraces the principles of diligence so much that we seem to be almost ‘too diligent’, at least partially. Of course, diligence in a precise way of speaking is the care to build life so that organize, responsibility Y discipline they are the favourites. So maybe it’s a biased version of diligence… diligence with questionable motives and results.

When a person reviews their schedule and can’t find time for basic needs like exercise and sleep, there’s a real problem. “Where does all my time go?” it could be the cry of the heart, since a feeling of impotence invades the victim of the hunger of time.

I can remember times in my life surviving on 4-5 hours of sleep a night and forgoing exercise and even time to eat properly because I was always on the go and had so much to do. When I look back at those times, no matter how important the roles in my life have been, I was always miserable deep down, because there was no time for myself, no time to recharge the batteries.

Despite the present discussion, let us turn around and move towards a solution that carries weight. Consider the following:

When we’re pressed for time objectiveobjective without focus-that’s the real problem. We have too much purpose, if there was such a thing. The word “disorder” fits as the antithesis of “focus”. We should feel privileged to have a purpose in our lives, but we begin to resent it when we are expected to focus on too many things; In truth, many of these expectations stem from ourselves and our inability to simply say no; It’s not always about saying no to others, we have to have the discipline sometimes to say no to ourselves too. This is even saying no to things we might enjoy, things that will bring disorder into our lives, not focus. Once again, there is so much stimulation and noise in life, we need discernment to protect ourselves.

The good thing about purpose is that it is based on hope, because you see a reason to exist, and hope is based on the guiding value of trust. Another way of saying this is: having a purpose increases your confidence in the virtue of confidence.

Clarity in life roles is essential for anyone with a busy life. It is simply a matter of focusing on the important roles and goals in life; these come from their values. The process of developing and achieving focus, effectively clearing your life, goes in this order:

1) Order your values; What determines your attitudes and what you stand for? I have seven, but you could have more or less; as long as they are personal to you. Values ​​can be trust, respect, honesty, kindness, discernment, generosity, etc. Values ​​guide your approach in life; They help you train. You must focus on them each day and visualize them in action.

2) Clarify your life roles and don’t do things that don’t fit here, this is the key. I would not recommend that you have more than seven life roles, and no more than three of these should be major, time-consuming life roles. For balance, the roles of personal and family life are closer to the top in importance. Your secular roles should be closer to the bottom.

3) Get specific, set goals for each life role. This increases your focus and helps you stay motivated and on track to perform well in every key role in life.

Don’t get frustrated by your lack of time. Be intentional about your life and run it like you would a good business; with enough planning to get the important things right, letting the rest go. It’s great to have a purpose, but it’s the focus and elimination of clutter that brings the satisfaction and peace of knowing you’re doing the right thing.

Time is up. We need to appreciate it, use it and learn from it. A life can seem like a long time; the truth is that it is not.

© Steve J. Wickham, 2008. All rights reserved worldwide.