I was watching a woman walking one day. She was slow, deliberate in each step and was picking beautiful leaves off the ground as she walked. A stranger said to me “she must own her time”. The comment left me a little confused and intrigued, so I asked for some clarification on the comment. What do you mean, she owns her time?
The man answered me with the following information. “Look at how she is walking, she is relaxed, not in a hurry. He went on to comment more. “That woman there knows where she is going, it may not be to the store, or to work, she is going one step at a time on her own. She is dictating her path, no one else. Watch as she picks up a leaf, she is taking her time, no one is rushing her.” I smiled, and shrugged my shoulders thinking this man was a little out there. Thanked him for his analogy and went back to my lunch.
I watched the woman more closely. He was right. She walked, looked at her surroundings, she looked at the sky, she looked at the leaves, she took her time. She owned her time.
The comment stuck with me for a long time. How could a little 1 minute conversation with a stranger strike me and linger in my mind for so long? Well…. I think its because I don’t own my time. I squander it like its a free commodity for everyone else to take at their every whim. I was drained and tired, looking for some relief from my crazy life. What I didn’t know is that I was the root of my own frustration.
People like to compare money to time, but in reality time is much more valuable. You cant return it and get different time, you cant buy more or get re-dos. Once it has passed, it is a memory only. It is a one time opportunity, so how are you going to use it?
I’m a Mom, a business owner, a wife, a daughter, a daughter in-law, a sister, a neighbor, a part of the carpool and most often the last on that list is me as a person. You forget that when everyone else is pulling you in one direction or another. I never really thought about that until that day. I want to own my time as well, but how do I do that?
Its not an easy journey to own your time.