time

You may notice that time and how busy we have been, has been on my mind quite a bit lately. Today is no exception. As I have been sitting at my computer this morning editing a new YouTube video my alarm has been going off reminding me to write my blog post. I have a couple of pictures that need to be edited, and we are in the middle of putting up wood for the winter, which is our one and only source of heat. Last night I missed a dinner with my youngest son who is in Anchorage for his school orientation week. It was an evening for parents to come and learn more about what the kids were doing, eat dinner, and enjoy some entertainment, which my son told me was a native dance presentation. It would have been a fun evening, but we were out cutting wood and completely spaced it out until it was too late to try and make it.

Time is an interesting thing. We often think of money as being the reason we do things, and often it is the reason. We work and work trying to make enough money so that we don’t have to work so hard later, but in the meantime, we miss out on the time that is slipping away with those things that matter more than making money, money only has the value that society places on it. It’s just paper. But time is the one thing we are all given to utilize however we so choose, and it is the one thing that seems to be wasted the most. Sometimes I look back at my life years ago. I would think it would be nice to do this or that but think of the time commitment and decided that the several years it would take me to accomplish whatever it was, was too long so I wouldn’t even start! I am now on the flip side of that, not having progressed in some areas of my life like I could have. looking back at that time, which really wasn’t that long, and wondering what I had accomplished instead, because it could have been so much more if I had utilized my time more wisely.

It really is interesting how the passing of time changes our priorities though. I love my life now. I have had so many adventures, challenges, ups and downs. And through it all I have learned a lot about what is important to me. When I was younger it had a lot more to do with money and stuff. I thought money and stuff would bring happiness and ease. I have learned that is not always the case. Our paycheck doesn’t guarantee anything, especially not happiness, and depending on how we spend it, it may not create ease either.

Over the years my goals have shifted away from money and stuff and turned more inward, to family and relationships, peace of mind and heart, memories, especially the kind that don’t cost money, they are usually the best kind anyway. These things don’t require anything more than time for the most part, but they are the things I look forward to the most. As my kids are starting to leave home, the memories are sweeter, and when they come home to visit, the laughter deeper. Most of my kids are still home, but they are not little anymore, they don’t spend as much time at home, and will be leaving sooner than later. I want to utilize the time we have more wisely, which involves more time not money. Last night as most of us worked together on cutting wood we missed the ones who weren’t there, not just for the help, but the fun involved. We laughed together, and maybe got a little carried away with the spray paint, but we spent time, and we made memories.

I love the quote at the top. Our time here is priceless and spending it going down one path means we won’t be going down a different path. We don’t have enough time to do everything in this wonderful world that we would probably like to do, so we need to look at our priorities, look at what’s really important to us, and then utilize the time we have here to accomplish those things. We should get to the end of our lives having utilized our time wisely, because we can never get it back.

Time

This week is spring break. For my kids it is a week off of school with nothing to do. For me, it is just another week. The only advantage is being able to wake up a little later. As we are already halfway through the week, I have looked this morning at how I have utilized my time, not just this week, but lately. Have you ever noticed that the older you get, the faster the days go, and you feel like life is slipping away and you haven’t had time to accomplish everything you really wanted to?

I have decided lately, that one of the biggest detriments to how I use my time, and whether it is used wisely or not, is social media. I don’t spend hours and hours on any device, but I do, especially in the evening, find myself aimlessly scrolling sometimes. Not even really reading anything at all. Sometimes I am not even aware of what is on the screen, I’m just scrolling. Recently I have been focusing on really trying hard not to do that. I find it hardest when I don’t have a lot of time to start a new project, or work on an existing project. That’s when I struggle staying off my phone. Recently I have decided to learn about something productive instead of scroll through social media because, even though it is down time, I can still use it productively.

Even though there is snow on the ground, I have been excited about our garden this year, and growing more of what we eat so we don’t have to rely so heavily on the grocery store. Even though I don’t enjoy gardening as much as I should, mainly because I don’t have a green thumb, I have been watching a lot of YouTube videos about gardening, as well as about how to best store the different varieties of food when they ripen. This has helped me plan out my seed purchases a little bit better and make a better list of what I really want. I have also been relearning about chickens. I’m not sure if I am ready for more chickens yet, but the first time I just jumped in without really knowing how (because that’s how I do most things). I learned a lot but have been learning so much more recently about better designed chicken houses, as well as how to better care for chickens. I have also been learning a lot about greenhouses as I would like to build one this spring, if the building market here in Alaska will hold out a little longer.

As I have learned about these various things, I have stayed off social media. I am still on a device, but utilizing not only the device better, but my time as well. I usually do these things during my down time, as that’s when I seem to waste away my time mindlessly anyway. But I have found it not only relaxing, which is what I am trying to accomplish to some extent anyway, but informative as well. We each need to spend our days wisely. Time is passing, and we can’t get it back. But what we do with the time we have here, the education and knowledge we gain, will go with us into the next life. Memories and knowledge will be the only things we get to take in a lot of respects. I believe that our Heavenly Father will ask us about our time management when we stand before Him, because He gave us a certain amount to do go and learn and grow in, and we will be accountable before Him as to how we used it. What do you do to utilize your time well, especially your down time?

Late

It is amazing what can be accomplished when you are extremely pressed for time. Take for instance this morning. I have my alarm clock set for 5:25am. I also have my cell phone set for 5:45. This one reminds me to say my prayers, but it’s also a backup in case my 5:25 one doesn’t go off, or I forget the night before to set it. I don’t really need the 5:45 one anymore to remember my prayers, and have thought several times about deleting it, but I decided I better keep it, just for the backup anyway.

When my alarm clock goes off at 5:25, I usually turn it off, ponder on what my day holds, check the weather, reset the alarm for the next morning and then get up and start my day, usually about 5:28 in the morning. I go down, make sure the boys are awake, go back upstairs and get dressed, teeth and hair brushed and then go back downstairs. We have time to warm up hot chocolate, say prayers, check out what’s going on in the world online, things like that. Then we start the car to let it warm up some, gather up backpacks and cold weather gear if it super cold and get out the door by 6:00.

This morning, the first time that I can ever remember it happening, my alarm clock didn’t wake me up, my prayer alarm on my cell phone did. I was slightly disoriented because it was the wrong alarm and I had to check two other clocks to see if I was actually reading my phone time correctly because my old phone used to mess up regularly. 5:45am and we needed to be out the door at 6:00! Had it not been my day to teach I could have fudged the leave time by 5 minutes or so, but not so today.

I raced downstairs and woke up the boys telling them what time it was. They immediately felt the alarm in my voice and realized what the implications of what was saying we’re. They are great young men and jumped out of bed and got busy rushing through their morning routines. I did the same. It’s amazing how much less time it takes to pick out clothes when you don’t have time, anything will work! No hot chocolate to slowly drink as we made our way through getting ready, just a glass of milk while making sure all the correct books were actually packed in the backpacks, grabbing keys, no time to start the car and let it warm up, and out the door only 2 minutes late.

What a crazy morning! Seminary went smoothly and everyone made it to school safely and I made it home after dropping kids off. I remember reading a quote one time, and I have searched for it and can’t find it, so I can’t give you the exact quote, just my interpretation of it. It said something like, “When you only have a short time left on this planet you only do those things that are the most important. Nothing else really matters.” That’s not exact, but you get the gist of it. This morning I was pondering on that as I was hurriedly getting done only those things most essential to me walking out the door. How much of my time do I spend doing things that have little or no consequence in life? Probably more than I would care to admit. That’s not to say that we don’t need down time, and sometimes that is the most essential part of my day. But I spend an awful lot of time doing things that don’t matter, like getting on social media when I should be cleaning my house or cleaning my house because that’s better than trying to fix my website, or whatever the case may be.

I have a list of priorities in my life, but a lot of those priorities don’t always take a lot of my time during the day, at least as far as the big priorities. I have found though, that when I start listing off some of the smaller priorities, I tend to not give my all or my best. I waste time on mundane tasks, or even just waste time on the internet when I should be painting, working on my business, or spending that little bit of extra time with my kids or my husband. This morning I realized that I need to focus better on what is really important and stop letting the unimportant, distracting parts of life distract me so much. So today, and the next several I will be focused on focus, on paying attention to where my time goes, and how much of it goes where. I am the only one that can change the course of my own ship, so if I don’t like the direction I am going, it is up to me to change course and do better. I am grateful that I have that opportunity and ability to do so. What did you spend your time on today? Was it wisely used?