IT’S TIME FOR WHAT: TO DO IT ALL OR TO LIVE AND LOVE?

I have work to do in the yard and also in the basement. Could work all day and then wouldn’t be done, but don’t suppose I will. I just work a while and when I get tired, I stop and rest.

                                                                                                 Karl Kennedy

The work will get done; it will be done better than work that emerges from tiredness of soul and spirit. Nurtured, nourished people, who love themselves and care for themselves, are the delight of the Universe. They are well timed and efficient.

                                                                                               Melody Beattie The Language of Letting Go

How many of you work when tired? Do you ever pause and ask, what is it time for?

Renewal does not emerge from doing. It emerges from being in harmony and in rhythm with inner life. It requires a rendezvous with Spirit. It’s counter-intuitive to a mind revved up, plowing through our work as if an ox who is being driven to the limit. Not good for the ox and not good for us.

In life, many feel a pressure to perform, multi-task, launch into a myriad of projects to just keep up. Because we are pressure driven, many of us have trouble keeping time with our Spirit. We wonder how we lose sight of what’s most true.

When I was an undergraduate, I launched into my Sophomore year like a young woman on fire. A year before, I was in the throes of grief, having just lost my grandfather. I took that grief and drove it, like a speeded-up drunk, into my Sophomore year.

Time became important to me when I arrived two hours late to my grandmother’s home, causing her to worry about me. In one split second, I shifted from rushing in the door, arriving at dinnertime, to seeing myself reflected by one of the most important people in my life. I let her down…during the most important moment in her life. I was out of synch with Kairos time and its expression of love.

Having sped along back roads, I justified my late arrival; after all, I was in college. And there was a war on, the protesting of which rattled and then changed a nation. Lucky me, I got to be a part of that. My grandmother was my place of refuge and nourishment. Surely she would understand.

Yet, my actions said it all: I didn’t have to be on time for her. I could come and go as I pleased. Luckily for me, this selfish behavior got cut short. I was not taking care of myself. Being out of alignment, I was not honoring those dearest to me. In years since, I’ve been slow on the uptake of self-care; but creating more time for those I love became a commitment. It started that day that, by grace, became a most intimate and remarkable time.

In this precious moment of your life, dear reader, what is it time for?