Spending Time

Have you ever thought about the phrase “spending time”?

Some of our everyday expressions are really quite profound if we take a moment to notice them.

We talk about spending money, saving money, wasting money or investing money. We use the same expressions for time. We save time, waste time, use time, spend time. We may think that money is limited. It isn’t really limited, but that’s another article.

Time Is Money?

Our time, however, IS limited. At least in this lifetime. And we don’t know how much of it we have in our lifetime. It is more precious than money. We tend to notice this most when someone we know dies unexpectedly. For me, it highlights that my time is precious, that I really don’t want to waste it.


I have a bird sitting on my favorite clock to remind me that time flies.

So why do I sit and watch television in the evening when I’m tired? Those hours will never be available again. There is so much I want to do in my life, and when I watch a movie because I don’t have the energy to get up and do something else, what have I accomplished?

Shoulda Coulda Woulda

I am not getting down on myself. Just noticing. I could meditate. I could listen to one of the recorded seminars I’ve purchased and downloaded. I could stretch and do some crunches.

The late Linda Webb-Kahkaba wrote a song called The Shoulda Coulda Woulda Blues in which she dreamed that she was at the Pearly Gates, and St. Peter says to her, "Your couch potato resume needs to be seen to be believed. But as for living out your dream, you didn't have a clue."

Luckily, last night, a friend called me just as I was starting to watch a back episode of a TV show. I had already watched a movie. And when I got up to hang up the phone, I realized that what I really needed was to wind down and go to sleep. So I did. Now maybe sleep isn't considered better, but it's what I needed.

It’s those little moments of honoring what the body or the inner wisdom whispers to us that matter.

The Power of Now

Now it’s time to write. Now it’s time to sit and listen to the birds sing. Noticing a bit if thirst, now it’s time to drink some tea. Now it’s time to work. Now it’s time to be social.

What a precious gift this is. How expansive and full of possibility to allow the space to listen and feel what is appropriate for the moment.

I think I’ll do this more often. Because I don't want to have the Shoulda Coulda Woulda Blues at the end of my life.

How About You?

How do you spend, waste, or invest your time?