Are you living in time? 5 simple ways no one told you how to take stock and edit what's serving you

Heritage crafts are a passion of mine.

I love the slow process of it all and the meditative motions that produce such beautiful, functional pieces. Because of the intentional way they are made, the end products can be of use for generations to come. And the most precious part? The creation of captivating heirlooms that collect stories and methods to be handed down, preserving the past, serving the present, and ensuring the future. So inspiring!

The men and women that learned, perfected, and passed on their skills for these crafts understood the meaning of “living in time.” They understood the importance of fulfilling their role not only for their benefit, but for that of the community. If they rushed the process, they could risk jeopardizing the prosperity of the entire community. They rested. They took moments to purely enjoy their surroundings and celebrate their accomplishments. They didn’t hurry and kept a steady, consistent rhythm.

So how can we learn from these timeless lessons and apply them to our modern lives? Let’s start by assessing how well our rhythms align with our values. Use the 5 steps below to see how well you are living up to the life you crave:

How many memories do you have? Think back to yesterday or the beginning of the week or earlier this month or the whole of last year. How much do you remember? Are there very few memories or do the ones you have seem trivial and don’t reflect what you value most? If so, Creative, I would be willing to bet your rhythms are keeping you in a place of hurry.

How many people are part of your Circle? Count the number of people that make up your circle starting with your Inner Core (those closest to you like best friends, spouse, etc.), followed by your Protective Layer (close friends, family, mentors, spiritual community members, etc.), and the Outer Crust (general friends and acquaintances, coworkers, social communities like gym buddies or mom friends, etc.). Now mark how many times you’ve spent intentional moments with each of those layers. If your Outer Crust or people who don’t even make it into the Circle are receiving the bulk of your time, your rhythms are absolutely not serving you.

What do your moments alone look like? Close your eyes and imagine a whole day to yourself. No work, no chores, only choosing things you enjoy…but the catch is you have to spend it alone. How does that make you feel? Hopeful? Anxious? Like you’re missing out? Guilty? Do you have any moments (even just 10 minutes because let’s face it— little kid season is a thing!) to yourself that are filled with only things you enjoy? Being comfortable with sitting with yourself is a key component to living in time. Our hurried world overwhelms our system making it hard to fully process and decompress…even if we don’t notice the overwhelm anymore. If you have zero moments to yourself or you avoid having those alone moments, re-evaluate those rhythms you’ve built and allow time for you to process your life as well as enjoy it.

Do you run your life by the clock or calendar? Now I’m all about utilizing organizational tools to be intentional with my time. But when the clock or calendar is what dictates when I move and where, it sucks all the joy out of what I’m doing. Guide posts and intentionality are great, mindless obedience to an inanimate object just because the world says you Should…that’s a big fat negatory Ghost Rider! If your tools are running your life instead of you using tools to keep your life intentional to your values, it’s time to tweak those rhythms.

Is your list of values full of action or dreams? Values are the task list of our calling and desires. Write out a list of your values. Next to it write either “one day” or list the actions you have taken to live out that value. Count how many one days you have. Do the “one days” outnumber the active values? It’s ok to have a few things in the one day pile, we all need things to aspire to and sometimes our season of life just isn’t able to hold that value…yet. But if your values are barely represented in your rhythms, then whose life are you living in time?