I’m writing this blog post on the day we turned back the clocks to standard time. It triggers many thoughts and feelings. Yesterday it was noon at this time, but today it’s 11am. It seems a form of time travel. Can we go back in time? Is this our version of back to the future? What if you could go back in time, just one hour? What would you do differently? Was there something you said that you later regretted? Or something you enjoyed tremendously but cut it short to go do something else on your long to-do list? How would you live your life if this moment was all you had?
Turning the clocks back also triggers issues of change. When we changed the clocks to daylight savings time back in the spring, I griped about it. After all, things were just fine the way they were. But now that I’ve long adapted to that change, it’s being switched around again. And as with most human beings, change is challenging. It’s the most reliable thing in the world, but it’s something we tend to resist—even when we pray for change. It’s been scientifically proven that it takes about a month to adapt to a new habit pattern. So in about a month we will have adjusted to this new time frame.
Turning the clocks back also triggers issues of change. When we changed the clocks to daylight savings time back in the spring, I griped about it. After all, things were just fine the way they were. But now that I’ve long adapted to that change, it’s being switched around again. And as with most human beings, change is challenging. It’s the most reliable thing in the world, but it’s something we tend to resist—even when we pray for change. It’s been scientifically proven that it takes about a month to adapt to a new habit pattern. So in about a month we will have adjusted to this new time frame.
"How did it get so late so soon?" Dr. Seuss
But what about other changes—self-determined changes you actually desire in your life? Have you warded them off for fear of change? If they were imposed on you, like the time change, and if you knew that within a month you could develop some ease, some trust in them, would that give you the courage to experiment with them?
This particular time change—when we “fall back”—and are granted with the once-a-year gift of an extra hour in the day—also triggers both gratitude and grief. Gratitude that today holds the opportunity for more joy, delight, accomplishment. And grief that if only I had an extra hour every day—how much more I could accomplish! Lack of time is one of the biggest obstacles Westerners cite as preventing them from achieving their goals and dreams. Yet we all have the same 24 hours/1,440 minutes a day and 168 hours/10,080 minutes a week. Within those same hours and minutes some people manage to pursue their dreams and others, sadly, do not. Which one of those people do you wish to be? What did you do with your extra hour last Sunday? What would you do if you had an extra hour every day?
Please share your thoughts and comments below.
This particular time change—when we “fall back”—and are granted with the once-a-year gift of an extra hour in the day—also triggers both gratitude and grief. Gratitude that today holds the opportunity for more joy, delight, accomplishment. And grief that if only I had an extra hour every day—how much more I could accomplish! Lack of time is one of the biggest obstacles Westerners cite as preventing them from achieving their goals and dreams. Yet we all have the same 24 hours/1,440 minutes a day and 168 hours/10,080 minutes a week. Within those same hours and minutes some people manage to pursue their dreams and others, sadly, do not. Which one of those people do you wish to be? What did you do with your extra hour last Sunday? What would you do if you had an extra hour every day?
Please share your thoughts and comments below.
RSS Feed