I have been thinking a lot about time and the correlation of ‘success’ and ‘happiness’ to the management of my ‘time’.  I often catch myself slipping in to past notions of success – typically the sacrifice of my time with family, friends, health, and rest – and it’s incredibly difficult to shake the premise that in order to be successful I must surrender this time.  To be so future focused can be very dangerous to ones health for sure but it also forfeits happiness in a big way…sadly,  it’s not uncommon for me to be working on a Saturday and find myself thinking, “What am I doing?”  It’s a great pain, and more than a little tragic, to be missing out on play-dates with your own children…and it freaks me out a little to see the metaphor of an absent father seem to emerge in my own home.  Still, to simply abandon the requirements of household and lifestyle in exchange for play and fun – the happiness quotient – would be short lived…after all having play time with your daughter is a little less enjoyable when you’re homeless (…and for the record I do take time play with my children and be a present, and be a good dad!)  24 hours in a day…not sure where it all goes…really no point lamenting it – what matters is the optimal balance of its use.  Time consists of ‘the past’, ‘the present’, and ‘the future’ – the paradoxes…and since the concept of making time is a little absurd (string theory and multiverses aside) this is the time limited reality where we all live. My challenge is to find the correct balance in each moment – the ideal combination of lessons learned from past experiences to inform my present choices of time ‘well’ spent, all intended to lead to and arrive at my future – the resulting glorious balance of all things important to me.  But here’s the real Bitch of the whole thing…only time will tell…too funny.

Photo by Lawrence Lewis (2012)

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Lawrence Lewis

“For disappearing acts, it’s hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of work.” – Doug Larson

About Lawrence Lewis

I do a number of things professionally...but most of all and the true purpose of what I do through "my work" is to provide for my family, be a good husband and great father, and try to make a difference as a world citizen...I guess it's not much more complicated than that 🙂