Don’t Waste Another Wasted Minute
Looking around at other people reveals that they probably have more than we do: more talent, more ability, or more money. We can content ourselves with the fact that at least we know there is one resource that’s distributed equally to everyone: time.
The way we use our time reveals a lot about our priorities, but so often we aren’t in control of how many of our minutes are consumed by our tasks. It’s not a personal priority of mine to stand in lines, for example. Yet, I find myself spending lots of time doing it: at the post office, in the grocery store, even waiting for the copy machine at work!
Lately, I’ve been doing my best not to waste these minutes. Rather than let my mind drift to a stressful “to-do” list or simply idle while silently cursing the time I’m wasting, I’ve decided to try to spend the time in prayer or reflection.
Regardless of your spiritual leanings, see if you can adapt your “wasted” time to purposeful reflective time. Whether you want to call it prayer, quiet time, or mindfulness… the benefits are the same.
Concepts to explore:
Quick affirmations - A short sentence or phrase is repeated to focus the mind’s energy on a specific goal to be attained.
The Jesus Prayer - ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
Meditative breathing - Calm and focus the mind with a brief “intermission” of focused breathing.
Image courtesy A Perfect World
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About This Blog
In Thornton Wilder’s play Our Town, the central character dies an early death. Emily is given the chance to revisit a day of her life and is advised by those in the afterlife to pick an ordinary day, warning her that she might be overcome otherwise. Still, Emily is overwhelmed with emotion as she recognizes how wonderful the everyday details of her existence were. Her daily routine takes on new significance now that it is gone. Through her tears, she asks:
Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it– every, every minute?
With this blog, I am trying to fully “realize” my life by documenting the things that I love. I want to appreciate and examine my past and present, as well as plan actively for the future.
I hope to accentuate the positive in my life and in the world around me, with the hope that by focusing on the positive, I will draw more positive elements into my life. Or, at least, realize all of the blessings that I do have.
Bob, the author of this blog, is a 33 year old husband, father, son, teacher, Christian, and liberal.
Thank you for this post
esp The Jesus Prayer…
Glad to see your blog back online. Whatever happened to the other one?
I hope you are having a good weekend!
I was using hosted WordPress on my own domain, but I was having far too many problems with it. I was spending more time trying to “fix” my blog than I was blogging.
This is much easier. Glad you found me here!
Great post! A wise person once said that Americans suffer from the “hurry sickness.” People say they don’t have time for reflection, but I’m like you, I spend a lot of time waiting and try to use it wisely.
Jean Browman,
Cheerful Monk
Transforming Stress Into Personal Power
this is such a wonderful post!
A great reminder. Sometimes when we’re in a hurry or if the line is just extremely slow we can get caught up with worry, frustration and anger. Your ideas for a deep breath and prayer are great. I’d add a little fun too - try reading one of those tabloid papers with a sense of humor “Oh my gosh Jennifer Anniston got a new haircut and it doesn’t look as good as her old one? Oh the horror!” Or “Julia Roberts is on the worst-dressed list again -won’t she ever learn?” It’s the only time I read those things but sometimes it can be really fun.
Bob, thanks for bringing this post to my and my readers’ attention. These are great ideas on how to spend otherwise wasted minutes.
[...] a perfect opportunity. [update] Bob at every, every minute mentioned his article in the comments, Don’t Waste Another Wasted Minute which expands on this idea with some specific ways to use otherwise wasted minutes [...]