HEALTHY MIND
STOP SAYING
YOU DON'T
HAVE TIME +
Start Owning
Your Life
"I DON'T HAVE
TIME FOR THAT."
This is more than a sentence
we say pretty often; it's a
boundary we're putting up.
Sometimes it's a healthy
boundary; sometimes it's
unhealthy, even harmful.
Sometimes we use this
sentence to excuse ourselves
from bettering our lives.
WHAT WE'RE
REALLY DOING TO
OURSELVES
We raise it up high for all to
see "look at me! I know how
to manage my time! I am just
like so busy.", but what we're
really holding up is an excuse
not to embrace our fullest
potential.
As a mom of four small kids,
I've done this more times
than I can recall. I've said
no to things that would
have changed my life, but I
was afraid to go there. I've
used my kids and my life as
a reason not to partake in
something life-changing.
16 / HEALTHY RGV
A Bible study that I
knew would shake
things up, but I
was in a season of
bitterness, and I
didn't want to be
shaken up yet. "I
don't have time for that."
A program or book that was
designed to help me escape
the chronic chaos and
overwhelm I was struggling
with, but if I stopped
struggling I'd have no excuse
to remain in my depression
and keep watching Netflix. "I
don't have time for that."
Think about this for yourself.
HAVE YOU EVER
DONE THIS?
Maybe your marriage was
on the rocks, and a helpful
website suggested creating
a special night of alone time
and discussion for you and
your husband. You know
exactly what that would
mean- no more excuses, you'd
have to deal with the mess
you helped create, and it
might not be all his fault- so
you block it. "I don't have
time for that right now. Things
are too crazy this week."
Maybe you've been
complaining about your
life- how busy you are, how
much work is on your plate,
how overwhelming it all
is- and sort of using that to
get recognized as a fearless
person. So when someone
suggests you train someone
to assist you at work or find
a Mommy's Day Out program
to help you with the kids once
a week, you brush it off with,
"I don't have time for that."
Because you know that by
actually solving the problem,
you no longer have a reason
to complain, a reason to feel
validated or seen as a martyr.
There are many articles,
floating around in Internet
Land, about learning to say
no, not feeling obligated to
say yes to everything asked
of us, but I see a chronic
problem on the flip side.
I struggled with it myself
for years, and I recognize
it in loved ones and new
acquaintances and bloggers
and strangers overheard in
coffee houses all. the. time.
Maybe not everyone is saying
"I don't have time" for the
same reason.
Maybe some of them truly
don't have the time for
something that would benefit
their lives.
LET'S LOOK AT
THAT ANGLE.
You have the time you choose
to have. You have the time
you make.
Time does not own us; we
own time. We all have the
same amount of hours in
our day as Maya Angelou
and Oprah and *insert some
incredibly successful person
you admire*. I think we need
to stop using a lack of time as
an excuse and start using our
control of time as a launch
pad for all we want in life.