39: "Wasting Time"

Today I’d like to focus on time. When we live knowing that our future is uncertain, it allows us to experience the present of the now.   You see, I’ve learned that I need to develop a better relationship with time.    I’ve spent the past week at Blue Spirit -- a meditation and yogic lifestyle center nuzzled in the jungle of Costa Rica. It was only 6 days, but felt much much longer. And the reason for that is because we spent precious minutes focusing on the present, not dwelling on the future.   With the help of a group of mindful yogis and yoginis to help keep me accountable, I spent my time intentionally, knowing exactly what I was doing for every minute of the day. There was very little zoning out or busy work. No television. No water cooler chit chat. Just focused attention and meaningful conversation.    It’s incredible to me how time works. Some moments in our lives are as quick as a gust of air and other moments can freeze in place for a lifetime.    For example, I think we’ve all had that class where the clock moved as slow as molasses no matter how hard we stared at the click to try and use the force to make it move faster.    Then again, we’ve all had those moments where time stood still. Like my wedding day when my knees buckled as my wife came walking down the aisle toward me. Or, as my friends with children have told me, like the first second you hold your newborn baby.    Or perhaps that moment when you were handed that degree you worked so hard to obtain.   So often in my past I would stress about wasting time because I felt I only had so much time in this life and so much that I want to do. But, what if instead of worrying about wasting time, I focused on appreciating the time I have in the present? Because I don’t really know what will happen in the next moment.   Joseph Campbell reminds us that we must give up the life we have planned in order to experience the life that is waiting for us.     So, as I look at my life plan and see my dream board that’s posted on my office wall, I need to realize that those destinations are not nearly as important as the journey I’m on right now.   And if they don’t come true, that’s okay. Because something far greater could come true, something beyond what I could even imagine right now.   And in all honestly, this is really causing me to reflect on the life plan template I wrote which I give away free to all of you listening out there at your lop.com.    I will be revising it to add in this necessary lens.   I still think creating a life plan is really important because it allows you to choose the path you want to walk on, but we can’t just get so caught up in the destination.    A couple of weeks ago, I had the honor to sit down with one man who has the most beautiful outlook on time: JJ Hanson.   As the real man of steel, JJ’s story is one I will never forget.    After serving as a U.S. Marine, JJ enjoyed his role as a Project Director and Operations Manager for an investment company. He and his wife had just started raising a family when JJ suffered a grand mal seizure during a meeting at work.   Doctors diagnosed him with GBM and he was given a terminal diagnosis. He would soon die.   So time was of the essence.    As of today, he recently pushed the NYS Dept of Health to officially declare May 27th New York State Gray Day where people wear the color gray to help promote brain cancer awareness and he now serves on the executive team at Voices Against Brain Cancer.    JJ is still with us and looking stronger than ever, living far beyond his prescribed deadline.    Here’s a bit of what JJ had to share about time:    Enter JJ   So, what about you? If time is our most valuable currency, how do you spend it? At least that’s the question I’m going to be thinking about today, tomorrow, and hopefully for quite some time.   The difference now though is that I won’t worry about wasting time (or at least I’ll try not to), but rather appreciating the time I have now and recognizing it more fully.