What really matters?

It’s easy to get lost on the treadmill of life, but it’s worth getting off to start living.

He was on his cell phone. Driving and talking. Talking and driving. Driving and talking. Talking and … CRASH!!!

She was in her hospital bed. Breathing and gasping. Gasping and breathing. Breathing and … you get the idea. Too bad his business had to come before her life.

Is it just me, or does it seem we have lost more than a little perspective?

Have we forgotten what really matters?

We rush through our days trying to “accomplish” things. We stuff so much into our days that they burst at the seams. There is one thing we can’t seem to cram into our schedule: quality time.

What is quality time? It’s the time when we are not rushed, the time we just appreciate the moment. It’s the time we take to go for a walk or to read a good book. It’s time to meditate or pray or just breathe. It’s the time we spend with our children or our parents … without watching the clock because there are three phone messages to return and the grass needs cutting and there’s a pile of work from the office sitting in the basement.

Want what you have

How can we recapture quality time? Here are a few ideas:

  • Schedule one day a week for quality time, when work and chores do not intrude. Keep your own Sabbath. (Someday, I’ll do this one, someday …)
  • Free your time. Remove the need for so many chores by downsizing your home or the number of items that need dusting. Hire people to clean and take care of your lawn.
  • Want what you have. The less you have, the less you’ll need to dust … and the less time you need to spend earning money to buy stuff, and the less time you need to spend buying stuff, and the less time you have to spend maintaining and protecting stuff (and earning money to pay for maintaining and protecting stuff).
  • Move out to the country. This won’t save you time, but it sure is relaxing to drive up to a house set among the trees in the mountains. Aahhhh. Relaxed, you can now walk in the door and spend quality time with the family. Not more quantity, just more quality.  I moved out to the country.  No mountains, but plenty of trees.
  • In my book, Climb Your Stairway to Heaven,  I suggest placing your garbage can on your desk and labeling it “IN”. Of course, that might not work in every office. But it is a great symbol of saying “No” to everybody else’s demands on your time.

Those are just a few suggestions. Not every one is practical for everybody. (Imagine the crowding problems if everybody moved out to the country!) But there is something there that you can do to focus more on what really matters … your own happiness and that of your family.

The time you spend making the extra money required to buy a fancy car is time sunk into a thing. You will never recoup that lost time. But the time spent enjoying your family or even just yourself is time invested in your long-term happiness.

The time you spend

Of course, nothing in life is black and white, and we all need to earn some money and we all enjoy earning some more. Only you can decide just where to draw your line. So here’s your challenge: have you done the analysis? Have you drawn your line? Have you decided what really matters to you?

Comments

  1. #TIME it can’t buy anything in our life.. as u said truly in this article.. 🙂

  2. Darren DeMatas says

    Good stuff, David. This really resonates with me. I’ve drawn my line for sure. It’s easy to chug chug chug along. Getting off of autopilot takes a little effort, but life is too short to spend time on mindless things that dont truly matter at the end of the day.

  3. I have enjoyed reading your post David. I agree with you that we often get caught up in meaningless daily tasks or activities. We as society not only lose perspective but we lose respect for ourselves and our loved ones and do everything in life on autopilot. We rarely stop and ponder about life. However, some of us want a different perspective, and want to think about what matters. However, we lack people in our lives who would listen and give sound advice. Therefore, it is also important to offer help when someone needs it.

  4. I totally agree with your post! I am currently struggling with balancing my work tasks, family, and personal life. I feel like I am on a train that is never stopping. For most of my life I have struggled with making other people happy rather then myself.This article reminded me to slow down and know that it is okay to schedule time for you and others. It has showed me that it is okay to reflect on your own life and see what direction you want to take in your own journey. The biggest part I need to release is what others think about me and judgement. Thanks for sharing this article!

  5. Dear David

    Thank you for sharing “What really matters?” with your audience.

    A relevant question: “Have we lost more than a little perspective?”
    To a great extent, I agree with you that we’ve forgotten what really matters.

    The FEMO is controlling too many of us.

    For me, quality time is time spent with those I love doing things I love.

    I liked your six suggestions on how to recapture time.

    This blog post was proof that it’s possible to push a vital point across in a short blog post.

    I enjoyed reading your blog post.

    With respect
    Edna Davidsen

  6. Hey David, you are absolutely right that many of us lose sight of what really matters. We have become a society that is far too focused on our quantity of life over quality. I sometimes wish I was born in a Scandanavian country, where we would have our priorities more in line with what is best for us.

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