Strapped for Time?

/ Pam Goode

Strapped for TimeSo the good news is that it’s 2016 and I’m wandering down an empty lane in Paris on lle St. Louis. I’m thrilled to be here, but a bit anxious. “In Paris?” you ask? Well, yes. My conundrum is worrying how I’m going to meld myself into this fabulous opportunity while simultaneuosly meeting a deadline. Cause, you know — Paris/Work … Paris/Work ….. Yes, time has me by the short hairs, and I don’t like it one bit.

And then I glance up, and in an instant my entire attitude changes and I burst out laughing, my feelings blatantly displayed for all to see. Honestly, how likely is it that someone would have taped up this clock and dropped it onto my path on the very day that I’m (more than) tremblingly overloaded?

Strapped for time — that’s me, and a big THANK YOU to the universe for letting me laugh it out in a big way.

Time is so often a deterrent, isn’t it? We all want more of it, but we’re quick to specify that we want *this* kind of time and not *that* kind of time. More time with those we love, and less time paying bills. More time to learn and create, and less time studying for finals. More time to savor a good meal, and less time standing in supermarket lines. Of course there are a few enlightened souls among us who can make the most of the lines and the numbers and the tests and even find joy there, but mostly we tend to try bargaining. “Dear Time, I will gladly pay you Thursday for a Cheeseburger on Wednesday.” And so it seems we spend our lives racing toward the world we think we want rather than changing the way we experience it.

Is this the way I want to live? Nope. Nope. And Nope.

I want to look at life, live life, and love life in a way that feeds my soul now and forever. Doing so isn’t impossible — the truth is that so much of it is up to us. So change isn’t dependent on time, and time doesn’t always equal change. Look at it this way: If I allot eight hours and fifteen minutes to a flight, I can walk the streets of Paris tomorrow instead of Charlotte. That’s a huge plus, but I wonder — can I *feel* Paris in an instant on any day of any year?

To an extent, yes. But I can also dedicate eight hours to writing a proposal and get absolutely nothing of value accomplished. So the concept of time is pretty wishy washy in my book, and how can I hold myself so accountable to wishy washy?

I can’t, and I won’t, and I don’t have to. I need to step it up. Now.

Let’s say I have ten great years left, fifteen good ones, and five glad-to-be-here years. At 25, I figured I was young enough to feel my way through it, and I did. But forty hit me like a deer in the headlights. And now at 60 (or so), planning my Next Ten Fabulous Years has became high priority, and I’m working it in every direction I can grab. Fortunately I’ve learned along the path that life is pretty much exactly what you make it.

Get going.

And today I plan to look at this giant, banded timepiece a new way: I’m not the one  who’s strapped. I won’t be the one who’s strapped. I think it’s time to breathe, dream, plan, work, and grab my joy. Sometimes You Gotta.

19 thoughts on “Strapped for Time?”

  3. Fine musings, fine musings indeed. Time is fleeting and endless, it’s a finite measure of our existence and yet eternal. I used to think I would like to live to be 125 — just a random number I chose. Now I don’t think that I could possibly stand to live that long and tolerate the aches and pains which greet me each morning and intensify with age! The timetable that you propose is much more realistic — I hope it works out as you have planned, with the possible exception of those five “glad to be here” years sneaking into the “great” category.

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    • If anyone should live to be 125, it’s you, and I think you’ll still be rocking it. Outside of the heavy farm labor, you have the right life for it too — loving family both intimate and extended, a charming community, healthy lifestyle and loving mindset. And lots of apples. My random number is 94.

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  7. Well said! The strapped clock showed up just when you needed it….

    On Wed, Apr 20, 2016 at 1:46 PM, What Are You Waiting For? wrote:

    > Pamela Goode posted: “So I’m wandering down an empty lane thinking about > how I’ve gotten myself into a place where time has me by the short hairs > when I glance up and suddenly burst out laughing, quite alone and suddenly > quite relaxed to spot my feelings so blatantly displayed” >

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