Last week we shared Anthony Demello’s poem, A parable on modern life. A great conversation ensued. I wanted to share it with everyone and see if anyone else can share their story and practice when it comes to time management.

“A PARABLE ON MODERN LIFE

The animals met in assembly and began

to complain that humans were always

taking things away from them.

 

“They take my milk,” said the cow.

“They take my eggs.” said the hen.

“They take my flesh for bacon,” said the hog.

“They hunt me for my oil,” said the whale.

 

Finally the snail spoke.  “I have something

they would certainly take away from me

if they could.  Something they want

more than anything else.

I have TIME.”

 

You have all the time in the world, if you would give it to yourself.  What’s stopping you?”

Me:

I love this. Sometimes I feel rushed by life and think that “I have to make it” (in some way). Poems like this gently bring me back to the journey and make me remember that the only person who is pressuring myself (at times) is me. We have all the time in the world.

BC:

Thanks for your very thought-provoking reaction to DeMellos’s “poem”.

I’m so much older than you all – almost, but not quite the sum of all your ages!

But that doesn’t make me wiser.  I’m still very much in the process of learning.

“Time management” has always been an issue for me.  “There are so many things I’d like to do, but how can I fit them all in?” has been a constant question for me.

Several years ago in Spiritual Direction, I mentioned to my very wise SD  that I was frustrated with my schedule;  I showed her my pocket calendar, with every day filled in – many with multiple entries.

She calmly looked me in the eye and asked “Who makes your schedule?”  No more needed to be said.

I’d like to proclaim that time management is no longer an issue, but you would immediately know that to be a fib (lying – even fibbing – is “anathema” to me, as you may already know.)  I’m still working on time management – but it has become less of an issue!

I suspect that “surrender” is not a word that young people would relish.  But it’s a great concept, when the surrender means turning it over to God

PM:

“Time management” has always been a challenge for me. In fact, I would say that term is not even a relevant term for me sometimes because there is really very little management. I just have tasks to do that get done when they get done.  Kudos to you all who try to manage it. At this point I have given in.

Danielle:

Bob, I was just going to mention that word “surrender”!  Both yesterday and today I’ve been in a bit of a “time crunch” with deadlines for papers, applications, and meetings.  In the afternoon today I was finally able to sit and say to myself, “Okay, it is time to surrender Danielle and let go of all these feelings of stress, shortness of breath, and worry.”  By releasing those feelings and surrendering, it makes me feel lighter and actually helps me to become more efficient/clearer with my time 🙂

Anyhow, I happened to come across an article on “time” which you guys might find worthwhile 🙂 this article (click to open) introduces the phrase “time+space” which I thought was interesting since I haven’t heard that term before 🙂

happy reading!

Whats your reaction and practice??