All The Time In The World

“We have all the time in the world” ~ Louis Armstrong

Or, as defined by my dictionary

Time (n): the past, present, and future regarded as a continuous whole.

 

Except we don’t. Have all the time in the world, I mean. We each have the same number of seconds, minutes, hours, in a day. But none of us know when those will end. None of us knows when the errant moment on the road may occur, when the diagnosis may be made, when the night comes that we don’t wake from.

Some advocate carpe diem – seize the day. Don’t let a single second of your most precious life go by without doing something with it. As though we are supposed to stuff every single second with activity and meaning.

I just add this; if you want to lie on the sofa reading for several hours, then do it. If you want to spend three hours in Homebase deciding on a choice of paint, then do it. It is your time to spend and your time to waste, your time to do with as you want. Those moments of doing absolutely nothing can be every bit as rewarding as those spent bungee-jumping or climbing mountains.

We can’t and won’t all be rocket scientists or brain surgeons, amazing novelists or life-changing politicians. But we can and should be us, using and enjoying our time our way.

You don’t know what time you have so use it as you choose. You have all the time in your world, so why not spend it doing what you want.

 

Princess

Just say yes…

“Just say yes. Just say there’s nothing holding you back.” ~ Snow Patrol

Or, as defined by my dictionary

Yes (adv): Used to express consent, agreement, or approval, or to answer when one is addressed.

 

I have been trying to write a post on procrastination for weeks. Somewhat ironic that I can’t do it, yes? But it isn’t due to me putting it off, it’s because every time I try it turns into such a blistering polemic I have to back away from my keyboard! That’s not very like me so, having out some more thought into it, it isn’t procrastination that I want to write about but commitment. Not necessarily “Yes, I do” wedding bells commitement, but just saying a wholehearted yes.

There are articles written on a fairly regular basis saying we are all doing too much. Women’s magazines often say we need to say ‘no’ more often. (Men’s magazines may have articles like this too but i don’t know as I don’t read them). This is from the idea that people are reluctant to say no to others and end up taking on too much work etc. Well I can see the sense behind that but agreeing to do an extra task or cover a shift or work late is rarely, if ever, done with a resounding yes. It’s more of a ‘yeah, ok’ with a bit of sinking feeling inside.

So, instead, I’m advocating a slight shift in thinking. Instead of thinking about saying no, think about when you can say yes and mean it. Really be open and into whatever is being asked/offered/suggested. Some of you will have read Yes Man by Danny Wallace (if you haven’t do, it’s great. I don’t recommend the Jim Carrey film though). The premise is that he started saying yes. To everything. Of course this quickly got ludicrous and even he had to set some boundaries. So I’m not saying we can avoid those ‘yeah, ok’ moments completely. But we certainly can look to grasp those opportunities that life offers us with both hands.

And this ties back into procrastination like this; it’s been said that life is too short to stuff a mushroom. No, it isn’t! Stuff as many mushrooms as you want. Try peppers too. And then, preferably, invite me round for dinner! Just, if stuffing mushrooms is what you want to do, then do it. Say yes to it. Don’t put it off because you might get it wrong or look stupid doing it or because there will be time tomorrow. There might not be mushrooms tomorrow. Or worse, there might not be time. Read this by @Bruce2990.

Now think about what you want to do and say yes to it.

 

Princess