Monday Mantra: Command Your Time - Part 4

A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation".

Every Monday I will post a new thought, idea, or focus for the week. When you need a breather from life, when you need a little inspiration, or when you're about to jump over the conference table and strangle your co-worker, remember the mantra.

Monday Mantra: Invest your time wisely

I know I've been talking about time a lot lately and when I saw this today I knew I had to bring it up once more.

See, the problem is we think we have time...

To catch up with old friends.
To catch up with our family.
To catch up on our sleep.

To do all of these things after we work too much, try to accomplish too much, spend too much time on unimportant things.

But time is not something that can be caught. We know this yet we try to measure, dictate, rule, and own it. It's something that cannot be held captive by any of those boundaries, yet we still try.

The only thing time is capable of is running out. The only thing we can do is make the most of it and the way we do that is by investing our time wisely.

Choose where you invest your time and you'll choose where you invest yourself.

The problem is, we think we have time.


Related Post
Monday Mantra: Command Your Time - Part 3

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In the World of Wellness: The Beauty Inside

Wellness is a term widely used that has multiple meanings around health and positive life style changes leading to well-being. Here we will use the term "wellness" as a means of defining a life free from disease as well as a way to explore alternative medicines, what they offer, and what this could mean for you.

Every month I'll do a post on a health and wellness related topic. This will give you a chance to explore other options, become informed, and make the best overall decision for your own well-being.

In the World of Wellness: It's what's on the inside that counts

Wellness doesn't just mean eating your fruits and veggies. Wellness also refers to a state of mind, an inner peace which is brought on by the acceptance of who you are. Did you get that last piece? Acceptance of who you are.

It's the beauty inside, my friends, that counts. You will get old. You will change. You will be all different kinds of versions of yourself throughout the years and the key to your own happiness is loving yourself through all of them. No one else can love you for you. This is something only you can do for yourself. You're going to be spending a lifetime with, well...you...so you might as well start enjoying yourself along the way.

Loving yourself is not only important for your own well being, but for the relationships you cultivate with others, whether it be your friends, your family, or your loved ones. I could go on and on and on about how vitally important it is to every relationship you'll ever have in life to love yourself - because it is - but I'll let the video series do the talking for me.

The Beauty Inside - Trailer

Episode 1 - Hello My Name is Alex

Episode 2 - Leah

Episode 3 - It Has to be Tonight

Episode 4 - Help Wanted

Episode 5 - I'd Like to Show you Something...

Episode 6 - That's it for Me

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Monday Mantra: Speak With Authority

A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation".

Every Monday I will post a new thought, idea, or focus for the week. When you need a breather from life, when you need a little inspiration, or when you're about to jump over the conference table and strangle your co-worker, remember the mantra.

Monday Mantra: Speak with authority

One of my many flaws is this: I don't always speak with authority. In every day talk, I just talk. I generally don't like debates. I'm not into drama. I understand that we live in a vast and diverse world with all kinds of beliefs in all kinds of things. I try my best to be respectful of all of those, but by doing so sometimes that makes me seem weak. Sometimes that makes me seem less confident in what I believe.

I've had people tell me before that they don't want to see me get "walked all over" and other nonsense like that, which is completely impossible unless I'm dealing with frost giants. Pushover is a common name used for those of us who do not go into battle over every little thing, those of us who do not need drama every single day.

I disagree with the people who say those things. I don't think kindness is a weakness. I don't think silence means you're more likely to bow down on bended knee to anyone or any idea. I think, on the contrary, that being peaceful is far more difficult than it is to lash out, to strike back, to lay the law of your land. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to keep the peace. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is be silent.

I like to refer to this act of silence or gentleness as being a Peaceful Warrior. Yes, I know, it's a movie.

Those of us who follow a more peaceful path have made the choice consciously, just as those who want their voices heard have also made that choice consciously. We Peaceful Warriors are more Gandhi than Ali. We have seen enough struggle and fought enough battles in our time that we have no desire to fight any unnecessary little ones. We know the difference between what's worth a fight, what's worth standing up for, and what isn't.

What I've learned, for me anyway, is that when I am trying to be open minded and politically correct (or heck, even when I'm just really tired) my tone of voice is different. I sound softer, I nod and "mmm hmm", and sometimes that makes me seem like I don't stand for anything. And while I am very much dedicated to a low drama lifestyle, I need to be a little more confident in my tone so that what I do believe in is clear. So today I am embarking on a new Peaceful Warrior journey. I have decided that I can still be peaceful and state my claim, gently yet firmly, in a way where no question is left as to what I stand for, while still being completely open minded to others. I've decided that my Peaceful Warrior wears a smile and army boots,  just so everyone is clear on where she stands.

So, whether you're a Peaceful Warrior in (flip flops or army boots) or someone who speaks their claims loud and clear every single day, we should all keep in mind that we're different. Not only in what we think and why we think it, but in how we express it as well. And that expression may vary, but that doesn't make one person weaker than the other.

One person's words are another person's silence and both speak volumes in their own way.

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Monday Mantra: Command Your Time- Part 3

A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation".


Every Monday I will post a new thought, idea, or focus for the week. When you need a breather from life, when you need a little inspiration, or when you're about to jump over the conference table and strangle your co-worker, remember the mantra.

Monday Mantra: Invest your time wisely

On yet another flight home a while back (clearly that's the only time I have to read these days..we'll get to that), I was reading an interview someone did with Drew Barrymore about how she disagrees with the idea that we can have it all when we try to, well, have it all: A career, a family, a business, abs of steel, so on and so forth. She wasn't necessarily disagreeing that people can achieve these things on some level, but what she was saying is that you can't juggle all of those balls of life perfectly with the hope of never letting any of them drop. Her point was that you have to choose wisely what you spend your time on because you won't have enough to equally go around the way you'd like it to.

In my mind there are negotiable and non-negotiable things in life. They are (in no particular order)...

Negotiable: TV, reading (see above), Internet shenanigans (Pinterest, Facebook, etc.), a perfectly manicured yard, awesome hair every day. That last part is mostly because even if I tried, it wouldn't happen.

Non-negotiable: Family, friends, my dog, sleep, health, flossing. I'm serious about that flossing bit, people. Floss saves lives.

How many people do you know that are frazzled to the core because they have set their own personal bar so high that not even a three time Olympic gold medalist could reach it? And then, because they never achieve whatever all of those things are they thought they could achieve, they run down their health/let one of those very important non-negotiable balls drop/push themselves to the point of misery? For the record, I'm holding my hand up because I know quite a few, including myself.

For example, I don't have kids right now but the thought of trying to maintain the schedule and life I have currently while raising children makes me panic and want to hide out until the children I don't have graduate from college. Which tells me that I agree with Drew...you can't do everything. You must make sacrifices and decide what's really important. Sleeping or staying up into the wee hours to catch up on work, clean the house, read a book? Being a working mother or being a stay at home mom (if your lifestyle and budget permit, of course)? Making home cooked meals for your family or buying your  meals pre-made?

No one can tell you what is important to you or for you, only you can decide that. The point is that you do decide. That you do weight out the variables and make an actual decision, rather than trying to do it all for the sake of doing it all...putting in 10% here, 5% here, 17% here...so on and so forth. That is not a recipe for success. That is a recipe for an ulcer with an extra large order of stress and a side of chaos. Choose where you invest your time. Because really, when you get to the bottom of it all, where you choose to invest your time is where you are choosing to invest
the most important thing of all- yourself. Make sure you invest wisely.

And to reiterate once more, because I believe that this subject is quite possibly one of the most important in this day and age...

Remember: Your time on this earth is precious. Every. Single. Minute of it. Value that time and put effort into what truly matters and then - here's the hard part - LET GO OF EVERYTHING ELSE. No multitasking/sleep depriving/unrealistic schedule. There are things that are worth your time and there are things that aren't. Sort them out, decide, and then never, not ever let yourself feel bad for investing that precious time of yours into what really matters.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, some of my favorite demotivational posters.

Related Posts

Monday Mantra: Command Your Time- Part 2

(Not a) Monday Mantra (But I'll Explain): Command Your Time- Part 1

All the lovely and hilarious pictures (except for the first one that I found somewhere on Google) are brought to you by Despair.com.