Who Has the Time?

6:00 AM

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.

I have a family. 

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 have friends.

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?


I have a body.

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.


Do you struggle with balancing your time? What are your thoughts on it? 

<3

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20 comments

  1. I struggle a lot with balancing time, and right now I honestly just want to hide in a hole and write and read and drink coffee...THIS POST WAS AMAZING!!!

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    1. UGH SAME. I don't want to go out and say hi to my family I JUST WANT TO WRITE AND GET STUFF DONE AJSDFHLKJSDAF. *takes deep calming breath* but it's all important. The little things matter.

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  2. LOVE this, Hannah! So much truth *nods*. It's super hard for me to balance my time - and it's DEFINITELY something I need to work on. Thanks for giving me this awesome reminder XD.

    ~ Savannah
    scattered-scribblings.blogspot.com

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    1. I'm glad you enjoyed it! <3 I think everyone struggles with this to some degree, even people that aren't writers.

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  3. You basically ALWAYS address the issue right off, and your words are just so wise. <3

    And I totally feel this. Life has been sort of busy, I guess, but soon... it's going to be a madhouse. I need to remember to just BREATHE and just LIVE, and that it's okay if I don't get everything I want to done, even if I feel hurt or guilty over that.

    Wonderful post, as always. <3

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    1. Thank you! <3 Yesssss remember to breathe. It's helpful to take a step outside (even if you have a million things to do) and go for a short walk around the house and just empty your mind and dig your toes in the grass and watch the clouds and the trees and the birds and b r e a t h e. It's easy to go crazy otherwise.

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  4. amazing post--totally understand this. I think what works best for me is setting an amount of time to write in the day and then I'm good--I'm one of those writers that can't write all day which is good and bad. It's like, once I've written my average THATS IT no more writing for me. :P

    I've always have the stressed out issue of "am I wasting my time, will anyone ever read this book anyways?" "would a random person see Christ through my writing?" all that sort of stuff. but you've got to get past the stress of it all. Writing isn't everything, but it is something. And you can do amazing things with it. Words are *SO* powerful.

    one of the best posts I've read for a while, Hannah <3

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    1. Oh that's interesting! *scratches head* maybe I should try something like that ... but knowing me I'd just burst out of it within a day because SCHEDULE and DEATH are synonymous to my brain. *sigh* AHHHHH YES I LIKE THAT. "writing isn't everything, but it is something." YESSSSSS *hugs quote*

      Thank you so much! <3 <3 <3

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  5. YES. I needed this reminder. I have been really stressing with time management and worrying about always being behind, but this post really brought my focus back. Thank you SO much, Hannah! ♥

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    1. I'm so glad! Do what you can with the time you have, making room for the little things too <3 I pray God will guide you! <3

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  6. This is something I have been struggling with balance, I have a busy life that keeps throwing me curve balls, and my writing suffers for it. I do want to live too, so maybe it's okay.

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    1. Yes, it's okay if life is busy and you can't write as much as you want! Still strive to write when you can, but remember that family and friends and simply living is important too <3

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  7. This. This so much. There's such pressure in life to be busy busy busy all the time. No one ever puts emphasis on being still, on taking time out to relax and recharge. If you're not working all the time, it's like you're not working at all. I struggle a lot with the balance. Especially seeing as I work at home. My work is always here, and even in the evenings I'm trying to jam in some writing, mix a song, answer comments, instead of giving myself time to rest and jut stop for a while. And honestly, I think we need time out from being busy, to be with family and friends, to take care of ourselves, and just to be still for a while. I just wish that the world in general made it more acceptable for us to take it slow every once in a while so we don't feel guilty for taking time out for ourselves and our families.

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    1. Exactly! Instead that often comes off as being "lazy" and people are made to feel guilty for it. I guess if you're living under the world's standards, the urgency makes sense. For them, this is all the time they have and they don't know when it will end. But we can take a breath and know that we have an eternity waiting, and that this life is important, but it's not all we have.

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  8. Oh my, I relate to this so much. I find myself pushing through things I used to do for enjoyment - now I do them to get them done, and move on to the next thing. It's so tiring, honestly. So thanks for this eloquent reminder. I needed it.

    Also, how come I am always so behind at reading your posts?! Clearly I need to follow, because your blog is a blessing, Hannah. xx

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    1. Exactlyyyy. When we focus so much on all the things we need to do, we lose the joy in doing them. And what's life without taking joy in what we have and the opportunities we are given?

      AWWWWW you're so sweet! <3 I'm glad you enjoy hanging out on Stan!

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  9. How do you seem to always read my mind?? I've been thinking this through all the time lately. I feel like I'm not getting anything done, and I really have to remind myself that I AM. It's just different things, and that's okay.

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    1. Yessss yesyes. Just take a break and breathe and remember it's okay to not be "productive" every now and then. Life is made of moments, and some moments are best spent in silent stillness, taking time to appreciate what we have and not working SO hard for more. I'm so glad you connected with this post! <3 Makes me moi happy *dances and hurls coffee beans*

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  10. As well as being a fictional author you should write a self help book. I'd probably buy it (if I had enough money :P).

    It's so true. There's so much time in the day to do so much. And a lot of the time I'm being lazy and staring off into space xD

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    1. This comment made me grin :3 You're so sweet! I've been thinking about starting a Christian centered blog so ... we'll see :D

      And yessss staring off into space takes up sooo much time UGH XP

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