I sometimes wonder where time goes. I often think that it speeds up as it seems to vanish into the ether without a trace. People often tell me that they are amazed at how much I seem to do and achieve, however I think I could achieve so much more which sometimes leads to frustration. I think that there is a little of the perfectionist still lurking in me which I do have to fight.
At the begining of the summer I had this wonderfull time spread in front of me where I had factored in all these things that I wanted to do. I was happy to luxurate in the knowledge that I had this time in front of me before I began teaching again in September.
Then that thing called “life” just jumped up and got in the way of all my plans. When this happens it is very easy to slip into that “poor me” mode and bemoan all the things that get in the way of the things you mean to and want to do. Once into that negative thought process it can really make you feel physically and mentally sick.
When time available starts to slip away instead of staying in the moment and keeping focused it is easy for the head space ( the brain) to become full of ”what if’s” and “should of, could of, would of, oh no’s, why me and so on”. This time spent in this type of negative and destructive thinking steals even more time leading to even more negative thinking. This in turn can lower mood, de-motivate and affect self belief.
Remember that there are only so many hours in the day 24 to be precise with on average 8/7 hours which are spent sleeping. This leaves 16 hours to do everything else. For wellbeing we need to make sure that we have a balance of activities. The art of balance is key to managing time and to stop spiraling into running too fast with no space for the things that make life worth living.We need to factor in time for work, training, appointments, family time, activities that improve your physical health, socialising as well as some fun activities.
Meditation has been proved to help manage negative thoughts and help the brain to focus. it is not all about sitting somewhere quiet and going OM or staring at a candle. For me it is walking the dogs, doing the garden, reading a book or painting. We all need to find our own personal space and those rituals and routines that make our life worth living.
It also helps to try and keep your thinking in perspective. I found in the summer that I started to wind myself up with my self imposed agenda. This is the problem with life the unexpected does come along despite well laid plans. Life can throw us off kilter and we then have to deal with events either stressful, painful or emotional. The more focused and in the moment we can remain the easier it will be to handle what comes our way and more importantly help us to remain in problem solving mode. Being lost in your head disconnected with the hear and now is not helpful.
So much time is lost during the day by the time we spend lost in our heads. FInding things that help you to keep connected weather it is following the breath, focusing on an object, or doing things mindfully can help to give you that moment of peace to focus back on the task in hand.
