Tag: time

Plan On It

Bailey GunnLeave a comment

I went from having the busiest year I could remember – from weddings to birthday parties to bachelorette weekends.

And now, they’ve been mostly cancelled due to coronavirus.

And although it’s a weird sensation, no one is more upset than the brides and birthday people. I feel horrible for them.

But in the beginning verses of “What Sarah Said” by Death Cab for Cutie, “Plans are just tiny prayers to Father Time.”

So, in a way, we are all just praying to Father Time that our luck doesn’t run out and we get to go to that wedding or birthday party. That we’ll have time to do the things we want to do – like write a novel or see our grandchildren.

The problem is that it takes a crisis for us to realize that we don’t have that kind of time on our hands. And all our prayers to Father Time could fall on deaf ears.

So, when this is all over, remember to hug everyone extra tight. All we are doing is sending up prayers that we’ll have time to plan things and execute them.

In this time, more than ever, we have to recognize when those plans fall apart that it isn’t anyone’s fault – just a prayer that goes unanswered.

Love,

Bailey

Take Breaks

Bailey GunnLeave a comment

In the early days of this isolation, it’s always key to be mindful of tips that will increase the stamina of your…well, mind.

So, if you’re like me and you are on the internet all day, then you need to do me a favor and remember to TAKE. BREAKS.

On social media all day comparing yourself to everyone? TAKE A BREAK

On the coronavirus alert system to see what shenanigan is going on now? TAKE A BREAK

Working at home for hours on end? TAKE A BREAK

Eating a kit kat? TAKE A BREAK

Everyone’s anxious and everyone’s scared. And we’re all flocking to the internet to try distract, whine, cry, and be anxious together.

So, try to take breaks. You would if isolation didn’t keep you inside, so don’t forget to do it now.

Love,

Bailey

Slow Down

Bailey Gunn1 Comment

As a kid, all I wanted to be is an adult. I wanted to be 18 and be able to order from infomercials. I thought that was the coolest thing you could do.

But as I write on this blog every few weeks, I think the coolest thing you can do now is slow down. It’s really important to appreciate time and what’s around you. You’ll never be this young again, after all.

So take some time to slow down with me. Don’t know how to do it? Try doing something you love. You’ll see how slow time moves when you’re savoring every moment.

 

Passing Through

Bailey Gunn2 Comments

It’s gonna pass like a kidney stone or a rainstorm but it’ll pass!

Because all time passes. The time spent waiting in line, the time spent at work, the time you spend relaxing, the time you spend in pain. It all passes at the same rate.

Sure, time flies when you’re having fun. And it seems you have to kill time at other times. But it all passes whether you’re watching the clock or not.

And I think that bears a friendly reminder. Even if you want time to pass, it’s going to take its good old…well, time. So, why not treasure the moment instead of dread it? Why not smile in this minute instead of waiting for it to pass? Why must we always be focused on moving time forward or remembering

back when or slowing down for a feeling?

If you’re focused on your goals and passions, time will take care of itself. Because time isn’t the one moving — You’re just passing right on through.

Time

Bailey Gunn1 Comment

Don’t you think it’s weird how we measure time? How we kill time? How we make it fly?

Don’t worry; I won’t break out into 525,600 minutes. (Unless you want me to.)

But I just think it’s strange that when I’m bored a single minute seems like an hour. But when I’m engaged, time is an object.

So, here are some other ways to tell time (and how slow or fast time goes):

Put on old clothes. (Fast)

Go out with one of your best friends. (Fast)

Take a shower. (Slow)

Being at work on a Friday. (Slow)

The point is that however we measure time, we have to be grateful for every minute. Because one day, we’ll wish for more time, slow or fast.

Pass

Bailey GunnLeave a comment

“It’s gonna pass like a kidney stone, but it’ll pass!”

All time passes. That’s the one thing we can count on. That when you’re having fun, time will have flown. And when you’re not, it’ll be all you can do just to kill time. But it trudges forward. Every second. Every minute. Every hour. Every week.  Every month. Every year. 

And that seems pretty foreboding. Sand in an hourglass kind of foreboding. 

But notice I didn’t say every day. Because you can decide what happens in a single day. And hopefully, you’ll choose to recognize that your suffering is passing too and not just the good times. Because that’s the thing about time; it heals. It may rub salt in the wound first and leave a scar but it does heal. 

I just hope you like how you spend your time. You will never get more of it, but you’ll learn to do more with less. 

Eclipsed

Bailey GunnLeave a comment

I don’t have to tell you that everything in your life requires balance.

Your gym instructor could tell you that. Your waistline could tell you that. Your boss could tell you that. Your doctor could tell you that. Your sorority sisters/fraternity brothers? Well, not so much. (They’d rather party…all the time.) But for the most part, a lot of people are going to tell you “everything in moderation.” That seems to be the best piece of advice anyone can give.

But what does that mean? When you say balance, all I see in my head is a pair of scales. And I picture myself putting a salad in one and an ice cream sandwich in the other, and the whole thing tipping onto its side with the weight of the frozen treat.

I mean, really what does balance look like? And when do you know you’ve achieved it?

Well, I came up with a better metaphor than a pair of rusty scales. Think about balance like daylight and nighttime. For example, if you want to keep your work and social life balanced, focus on your work during the day time. When the sun is shining, that’s when you know that you have to be working. And then when night rolls around, you can play.

Now, remember that this is a metaphor. Just because you’re working at night doesn’t mean you should skip work the next day to even it all out. The point is that you are dedicating a specific amount of time to something with a set stopping point (the sun goes down, it comes back up).

The point is to not get eclipsed by something. That is, you shouldn’t allow the day time to be blocked out by the moving moon. Or, in other words, don’t get carried away by one thing in your life.

And really, that’s easier said than done. Because some things just call for our attention. Some things completely take over. Some things block us entirely from seeing what we need to see.

But if you at least attempt to separate your time equally enough, you may not be waiting to do the things you really want to do once every blue moon.

Stealing Back Time

Bailey Gunn1 Comment

Not too long ago, I told you that time was like money, and that you should spend it wisely. And that’s still true. You should definitely think carefully about your priorities and how you will budget your weekend. But what about the moments when your time is abruptly taken from you? What about the moments you’re late or made to wait? Those moments are lost to you, and you wish you could get them back.

Well, lucky for you, I know how to do it. I know how to steal back time:

Read.

Yup, it’s that simple. Reading will allow you to fill your head with knowledge and fill the gaps of empty space in your day with productivity.

Take today for example. I cross a bridge to get to and from work, and when I’m really lucky, the bridge goes up, and I have to wait behind rows and rows of brake lights for it to go down again (usually about 15 to 20 minutes). Before, I would blast the radio and the A/C or heat to drown out the fact that I was going to be uncomfortably stuck in my car for a while. But recently, I’ve started to jam the car into “park” and whip out a novel while I’m waiting.

Gone are the moments where I’m staring mindlessly at someone’s back bumper. Instead, I’m gently cradled in a world of fantasy, with my eye carefully trained for movement in front of me. I’m actually excited when the bridge goes up now because I can take a few moments to get a couple of pages in. And as you can imagine, my ride home is a lot less stressful because I’m no longer wishing I were somewhere else.

Why does this work? Because a story, a magazine, a newspaper, or even a comic is easy to pull out in those dull periods of time during your day. It’s sort of like splashing water on your face: it rejuvenates you for your next task by creating a smoother transition: something to something, instead of nothing to something.

And I do this all of the time. I read at night, I read in the day. I even read and walk. I’m all like, Just walking? Pfft! BORING! SNORE! Let’s raise the difficulty level a bit!

Have I tripped occasionally? Sure! Do trees slap me in the face a couple of times a week? You betcha! Do I pull beetles out of my hair from walking to closely to branches? Hundreds of times! But I’m getting a full ROI on the time I spend when I have nothing else to do.

I mean, the fact that life is always going to give you something to wait for is a given. There will always be those quiet times where nothing is really coming and nothing is really going. And of course, there are always going to be times when you feel you could be more productive. But you don’t have to feel like your time is wasting away. Reading is, and always will be, the perfect solution for stealing it back, moment by moment, page by page.

Life is a Currency

Bailey Gunn1 Comment

Did you ever notice that no one really knows what to do with life? Everyone wants to find the meaning of it. Everyone wants to know its secrets. Everyone wants to “live” it. But no one knows how.

So, we spend our whole lives trying to puzzle out…our lives. Who are we supposed to be, and what are we meant to do, and how much time are we meant to do it in. Questions, questions, questions. And yet the core question of our lives, especially when we’re in our mid-twenties, is what are we put on this Earth to do. What are we supposed to do with the time that we are given?

But I think a better question is how do you want to spend your life? 

Because everything is always so much simpler when you talk about it in terms of money (especially math, but this whole metaphor thing works, too).

So, think about life like it’s a crumpled dollar in your pocket. Think of it like it’s that last couple of pennies that you found in between the cushions in your couch. Think about life like it’s the money in your savings account that you’ve been hoarding since middle school. It’s exactly the same.

There will be times in your life when you’ll have to spend money on things that you’d prefer not to spend it on (baby showers, bridal showers, bills). And at the same time, you’ll have to spend time in life on things you’d also prefer not to spend time on (baby showers, bridal showers, bills).

And then, there will be moments that you don’t have enough money (or time) to do the things you want to do, but you’ll do them anyway, because you know that you are short on both but that these moments are important.

And in very rare times, you will be able to buy and spend the money and time that you want to, with even more fantastic results.

By viewing life this way, you suddenly take the pressure off yourself. Sure, sometimes it can be hard to know how to spend your money, and a lot of the time, you’ll get it wrong. (Why did I go to the store to buy salad ingredients and come back with French Toast Crunch?) just like (Why did I hang out with that group of friends because they left me drunk at the bar without money or a taxi?) But that’s life, too. You’re going to make mistakes, and you’re, quite literally, going to pay for it.

The point is that if you treat life as you would your own money, you’ll find it to be a lot more precious and priceless than if you treated it as one big problem to be solved for x. It’s not necessary to have all the answers. All you have to do is spend your time (and money) wisely.

Future Me

Bailey GunnLeave a comment

I had a definite vision when I was younger of what I would look like when I was older. Generally, I would be taller than the average height I find myself at currently. My hair would be really long, and so would my legs. In short, I’d be an older but more attractive and put-together version of myself. (What could go wrong?)

Fast forward about ten years and you’ll find that age has not been kind. Everything about me is pretty average, which is to say, not what I imagined. I certainly didn’t know how future me would fare, but I wasn’t thinking this.

And even now, I’m still making trouble for future me by assuming what she’ll look like or what she’ll want to do.

For example, I’m a bit lax when it comes to laundry. I let clean clothes pile up on my floor until they grow metaphorically moldy and need to be washed again. I actually try to trick myself by putting the clothes on my bed so that I’ll have to put them away before I go to sleep.

Enter future me. Future me does everything that present me doesn’t want to do. I think, future me will be a lot less tired than present me is. She’ll put these away.

But of course, in addition to being a disappointment in looks, future me is also a disappointment in acts. Because what ends up happening is future me takes the clothes off the bed and sets them on the floor. Or she sleeps on top of them, the clever fox. It’s just pointless to ask her to do the things I need to do in the future. It’s almost like I have to make it seem like it was her idea all along…

And really, it’s not fair of me to put all of that responsibility on her. It’s not right that I am going to put off things just so that future me can deal with them. It’s not good that her “to-do” list is as long as my arm.

And here’s the biggest problem with letting my future self do the things that I should be doing: I become my future me before I know it. That’s right, it doesn’t take long for present me to overtake future me. And then I’m stuck with stuff that I could have done beforehand and there’s less time to do it in.

So, my advice is to consider your future self. Can you save her a little time by doing something now? Can you make her quality of life a little better by helping her out? If you can, you won’t have to see the future to know that she really appreciates it.