School. Friends. Church.

Who has the time?

Planning. Writing. Editing.

Who has the time?

Blogging. Talking. Smiling.

...who has the time?

Run, run, or you'll be late.

For what?

Everything. Everything is happening right. now. And you better hurry up and move or you'll miss it all.


I've heard a lot of sermons on 'being still'. Our world is a crazy place, after all. It makes sense that preachers would want to address the issue. You've seen the way people drive. Everyone, everywhere, is in a hurry.

Why? Why are we constantly rushing through life? Why do we feel this deep urgency to get up and move and get stuff done? Why is it so against our nature to just stop, close our eyes ... and breathe?

This topic has been on my mind a lot lately. I don't want to do certain things anymore. Things I used to really enjoy. Sometimes I can't do it. I'm too busy. Sometimes I just don't want to do it. It no longer interests me in light of what else I could be doing. Sometimes I do it, but I just feel guilty while I'm doing it, and as soon as it's done I rush to do the other more "important" things.

What's the answer to this? How do we teach ourselves to enjoy and cherish every second of life that we have, and to make the most of it ... but at the same time allow ourselves not to be doing something "important" every once in a while.

I am a writer. I have thousands of writer-ly things I could be doing. I could wake up and write all day. Who needs food, anyway? I could wake up and write and edit and blog and read and tweak and critique and plan and create all stinkin' day every stinkin' day for my entire life. There is just so much to be done in that area. Sometimes I feel so frantic because I'm not getting enough done. There's so much more I could be doing.

And I'm not doing it.

I've written for nearly six years and I still have never sent anything out to betas. I don't have a single project ready for human eyes. I don't have anything to share for all the time I've spent.

Does that mean I'm not doing enough? Does that mean, as a writer, I've somehow ... failed?

My breathing gets tight when I start to think like this. You need to hurry, a voice whispers in my ear. You need to get a move on. Stop being so lazy. How can you call yourself a writer if you don't write all the time? 

I've struggled silently with this for so long. But now, I'm whispering back.

How can I call myself a person, a Christian, if I don't live?

When we write, we're not living. We're telling a story. And that's amazing, don't get me wrong. I love to write. I love to read. I love to plan novels and worlds. I love to create someone else's life and live (far more excitingly) through them.

But I need to live too.


They deserve my time.

I don't need to be holed up in my room writing 24/7. I need to emerge from the depths of my writer cave to come play a game with my little sister and brothers. I need to jump on the trampoline with them and laugh and sing and tickle. I need to love them. And I can't love them if I'm not giving them time. I need to do things with them.

I even need to not do things with them. Sometimes the most you can do is simply be there. Giving your time to them, even if you're not really doing much. They deserve it.

What is life without family?


I don't like to have my nose in my phone, but lately that's been my only way of communicating with my friends, seeing how most of them are online, or have moved. Most of the friends I did have here where I live just graduated high school and left back in August. They deserve my responses to their texts. They deserve my time.

What is life without friends?



Yes, you knew this was coming. I have a body, and that body needs exercise. Sometimes as in never I really don't want to exercise. But that deserves my time. How many books will I get to write if I don't take care of myself and die before I even begin to know what I'm doing?

How can I live life well if I'm sick?


Sometimes, we lose sight of how important these things are. There are many other important things (obviously) but this post is already getting long so I'm going to wrap up with this.

We may feel like we should be doing something else. We may feel like that card game, or that long message being typed out, or that 5k walk/run is a waste of time. But it's not.

That card game you play with your little siblings? They're going to remember that. And they're going to treasure it.

That message to your friend? They're going to treasure that. You could brighten their day without even realizing it.

That walk/run with your mom? Sure, you may not be burning up the road, but that time you spend means something. To your mom, and to you. You may not realize it, but it makes a difference. All this makes a difference.

When I tell people I'm a writer, a common response I get (and one that really irritates me) is something along the lines of, "Oh, I've always wanted to write a book but I never have the time."

As if I have 30 hours in a day, while you get 24? We all have 24 hours in a day. We all have lives. Some may be busier than others, granted, but time is not something that just falls into our laps.

Make time for the things that matter. But there needs to be a balance.

Yes, make time for your writing. But you can step away from that for a minute. Sometimes you need to step away from that for a minute.

Be still. Breathe. Pray. Talk to your mom, to your dad, to your family. Text your friend. Go for a walk. Smile. Laugh. Breathe.

Live.

Who has the time, you say?

You do. Right now.

You will always have your stories. But you won't always have your family and friends. You won't always have the power to stay healthy. Take advantage of what you have right now, and use the time God has given you.

Your stories will still be there. Your family and friends might not. So go live.