Time waits for no man

"What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare."
William Henry Davies (1871-1940), 'Leisure' 


or, as Ferris Bueller said, "Life moves pretty fast - you don't stop and look around once in a while, it might just pass you by..."

Work-life balance is a bugger isn't it.  The only time I ever seem to get it right is when i"m on holiday.  Our holiday in Orkney this summer was just perfect.  Suddenly I found time to get what I wanted to out of each day - family time, leisure time, and so on.  Unbelievable how much more relaxed you are as a result.

But it can fade pretty quickly as time passes and you get back in to work schedule.  All the various things that steal your time; domestic chores, work pressures, exercise and training, reading, writing, leisure time, family time, keeping up with friends, build up and you put pressure on yourself to try and do everything you can perfectly.  For some reason I've always been acutely aware of how I have a finite period of time on this earth (I don't believe in an afterlife, I find that a ridiculous notion) and it's vital to make the best use of that time possible.  That stretches from being the best person I can be and doing right by others, through to constantly ticking off the things I want to do.  It's this drive that's meant I've done several postgrad courses, read a stupid number of books, and run 6 marathons and various other challenges.  But it also means that having done these things, I'm still acutely aware of how much more I want to do and all the things I've yet to achieve.  Places to visit, books to read, races to run - the list is endless.

What I try to remind myself to avoid this constant state of dissatisfaction and impatience is 1. that you can only do so much, and I should be gentle with myself in how I go about delivering stuff. 2. Sometimes you miss important stuff because you're running so hard to stand still!

You need to build in time to do things in a way that means you appreciate them, and consider people around you too.  In the opening chapter of 'The Art of Travel', Alain de Botton talks about how travel is a state of mind.  When you're on holiday you look at the world in a particular way.  You decide to walk a different route to the one you took the day before so you discover more about a place.  Or you decide last minute to ditch one plan in favour of another.  You keep in mind the things you want to get out of your holiday and try and fit each thing in - you keep your view of things to tick off in the time you have, and you keep in mind the importance of enjoying yourself and relaxing while you do it too.

So, whilst you're busy and the pace of 21st century life is constantly buzzing around and pressuring you to fill every minute with 60 seconds-worth of distance run, keep an eye on the long term things that are important, but remember to stop and look around once in a while too.  Walk a different route to work.  Pop in to wander round that graveyard you've been past so many times and always been curious about.

It'll make you happier and more relaxed, you'll be surprised by what you learn, and it'll probably help you get to where you want to go just as quick.  But more than anything else, what's the point in ticking off every little thing if you don't take the time to appreciate any one of them?