As I gaze beyond my laptop at work, Skeletor looks at me and says "Progress, not perfection".
There are only so many hours in the day and there are many things I care about. I can't be perfect at all of them or any of them.
Our "free" time is a reflection of our values. Our time at work can be too, depending on how much autonomy we are allowed.
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| Image credit: jcsullivan24 |
I'm the type of person who appreciates the heck out of a sunset, sunrise, moonset, moonrises, pretty cloud formations, bright red trees in the fall. I'll just go and stare at the sky like an idiot, but that's who I am. My dog Paddy is almost 17, and yeah, you bet she's getting a belly rub or ear rub if she asks for it no matter what else is going on.
Make time to read. Make time to sleep. Make time to just sit on the couch under a blanket with your kid. Put down your phone and listen when your spouse is talking about something that's important to them. Make time to learn. Make time to write. Make time to check in with friends. Make time to keep your heart and lungs healthy. Make time to take care of your surroundings if the clutter is a distraction. Buy time if you can - pay a neighbor kid to mow your lawn...order your groceries online instead of meandering through aisles (unless grocery shopping to you is like a breathtaking moonrise for me -- whatever works). Dispose of traditions that don't matter to you. Reframe that stressful wait in traffic into an opportunity to listen to a podcast or audiobook.
To whatever extent we can control our time, we can approach it with the goal of making progress toward being a better whatever-role-is-important-to-us-right-now.
