Can you give yourself the gift of time?

Have you ever given yourself the “gift of time?” Truly, it is the gift that keeps on giving. If you have ever had a meeting canceled, a snow day at work or school, your IT system go down or an appointment canceled that you really did not want to keep; you have been given the gift of time. Such a gift is ineffable, it is hard to describe. You want to shout and jump for joy. I can hear myself thinking the words of Martin Luther King: “Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, we are free at last.” The ‘gift of time” becomes my freedom. Perhaps, not in the sense that MLK was thinking about these words, but my feeling of freedom is real. I am free with time to spend and no immediate obligations or responsibilities to spend it on.

How often do you get a “gift of time?” Usually, it happens because somebody or something forces us to give up time that we had scheduled. We rely on others to give us this gift. Perhaps it is special because it is seldom planned. Ironically, it is free for us to give to ourselves, if we choose. Maybe we should give ourselves this gift more often. We are often reluctant to cancel or change plans because we feel responsible or we feel that we don’t have the right to change prior decisions on how we will spend out time. We are afraid of being seen as unreliable. However, it is your perfect right to change your mind. If things are getting hectic or you feel overwhelmed, give yourself a gift of time. You have the right to give yourself the ‘gift of time” whenever you choose to.

Do you have meetings or appointments that you really don’t want to go to? Do you schedule things and later regret that you did? What if you canceled these? What is the worst thing that could happen? Would they really fire you? Maybe if you did it too often, you would suffer drastic consequences. However, occasionally, you should think of giving yourself a gift of time. Try it today, see how it feels. Just don’t cancel that meeting with your boss. 