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How are you spending your time on this planet? What are some hobbies/activities that bring you joy?
This week's Spiritual Newsletter is all about time, and what we do with it.
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It’s said that time flies when you’re having fun, and I do agree that it can feel that way. My favourite band is known for playing quite lengthy concerts – some three hours on average – yet when I’m there I’m so caught up in the music that it feels like it’s over in the blink of an eye. On the other hand, when you’re bored or miserable time seems to pass much too slowly. I remember when the computer system went down at work, and the company was so reliant on the system that there was not much we could do. That felt like a long day.
We don’t have much time on this planet. The average life expectancy here in the UK is approximately 81 years. When I was a kid, 81 years seemed like an endless amount of time but it isn’t, really. It especially doesn’t feel that way when you get to that point when 81’s closer to you in age than the day you were born. Suddenly, it does feel like time flies. It’s a sad fact, too, that illness or disability can significantly affect that life expectancy – autistic people like me, for example, face an average life expectancy gap of 16 years. I sure hope that I have many years yet to come!
I realise that this is not a cheerful note on which to start a newsletter, but it illustrates the fact that time matters. What we fill our time on this planet with matters. Regardless of whether or not you believe in an afterlife, our life has meaning. Even if we do not see that meaning ourselves, those around us experience the effects of what we do (or do not do), so our lives mean something to them – for better or worse.
I had an odd dream last night. In it, my husband and I were offered a treatment that would send us back into childhood. We’d be healed of all illnesses, but we would also be stripped of our memories. I have some health issues that I sure would like to leave behind. My husband’s in the same boat. I’d love to see him free of pain. I felt frightened, though, that if I were to take that step we might not meet this time around. Or if we did meet one day, we might not fall in love. Regardless of that risk, however, I wouldn’t want to stop him from living a pain-free life. Yet, when I described my dream to my husband he said he wouldn’t want that. He is who he is because of his experiences, and despite his health being what it is, he is perfectly contented. We cannot turn back time, but if we could there are no guarantees that things would change for the better. That we would change for the better. We have to do our best with what we have.
What that looks like differs from person to person. It can be difficult to find joy in our day-to-day activities. It’s easy to get stuck in a routine. We get up, get ready, go to work or school. Come home, cook, clean, walk the dog, help the kids with homework, catch up and crash in front of the computer or TV. Rinse and repeat, and before we know it another year’s passed.
It’s coming up to the time of the year when many of us reflect on what we’ve achieved in the past twelve months, and what we would like to achieve in the months and years ahead. This year I’ve done pretty well with my goal of going for more walks. I’ve also achieved my goal of getting back into writing – I’ve added quite a few items to my portfolio. I’ve managed to develop some positive habits, and have a generally more positive outlook than I had at the beginning of the year. I have not met my reading goal, nor my reviewing goal (though I have done some reviewing). But I am getting better at making time for myself and doing the things that make me smile. It’s important to make room for this.
It’s all too easy to prioritise everything else over our hobbies and creative endeavours. That’s especially the case in a time when many people feel the need to turn anything they’re remotely good at into a side hustle. When something you do for fun and relaxation suddenly becomes a job, the pressures that come with it can lessen that joy, or even see it vanish completely. Likewise, something that was a helpful emotional outlet can become a source of added stress. It’s okay to have something just for you. It doesn’t need to make money. It doesn’t need to have a huge societal impact. It’s enough that it adds a smile to your day.
When you have limited time available to you, each smile holds great value. There will come a day when we look back at our time spent here, and I hope that when that time comes for me I will have a great many happy memories to look back on. So much in life is about balance, and the same applies here – we’re doing well when the good outweighs the bad. It’s near-impossible to avoid any bad, and that means we must actively seek the good wherever we can.
We should not just value our time, but ourselves. That can be a challenge - one we can hopefully tackle during the years we are given.
NaNoKit |
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Spiritual: October 25, 2023 Issue [#12236]
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