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#1440

I used to be afraid of dying. But I know it’s going to happen one day and understanding that death is a part of life, makes me less afraid of it. Plus, I know God’s not done with me yet. I still have a lot of living to do (so I don’t plan on checking out anytime soon) however, death also makes me think about life and the significance of how I spend my time. I recently read a book by Kevin Kruse titled 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management, and something he wrote really clicked for me. He wrote…

We must be vigilant with our time. There’s only 1,440 minutes in a day.

1440. That’s it. As much as I try to be flawlessly diligent with my time, I’ve wasted plenty of time I’ll never get back. Once I started saying things like, I feel like there’s not enough hours in the day, I knew I wasn’t managing my time properly. I was pissing it away. I’d hate to get to the end of my life and feel like I wasted it away doing things I didn’t enjoy, being around people I didn’t like much, or doing things that weren’t productive. I’ve collectively wasted 1,440 minutes (perhaps even more than this amount of time) on the following:

Waiting on people before I decided to experience different things I wanted to do. Never considering I could just do things on my own.

Waiting on friends who were always running late and never speaking up about being irritated about their lack of respect for my time. Seriously, wasting someone else’s time is offensive.

Allowing people to put their neediness, problems, and demands on me, literally putting a drain on my time and emotions, and never speaking up about things until I was overwhelmed, angry, or grew resentful of having my time taken up. I learned to set boundaries.

On multiple occasions I’ve wasted time waiting on any guy I’ve been interested in to figure out how he felt about me, when I could've been out enjoying myself or dating other guys, instead of being strung along. Until official titles have been established, I’m free to date anyone I want. Sorry but not sorry, just being in the talking stage makes me no one’s girlfriend. And I’m on standby for no one, either.

Spending time scrolling through social media. I’ve pulled back more and I’m actually happier and have more free time to be focused on more important things that are priorities. Go figure.

Falling into patterns of anxiety, living in fear, worrying about what other people think, worrying about things beyond my control, and crying over stupid stuff. All that precious time, gone.

I desire to be more intentional with my time and way before I read Kevin Kruse’s book, I was heading in that direction, anyway. I have a tight morning routine, I meditate, exercise, journal, and put away all my electronics, cell phone included, by 9pm (except on Fridays and Saturdays) so I can unwind and decompress for the day. None of this happened overnight. Some days, it’s tough but having balance and discipline with what I’m spending my time on, who I’m spending it with, and what I’m spending it on, is important to me. Especially with the number 1440 forever embedded in my mind. I’m going to be more intentional than ever. My time is valuable and so is yours. How you spend it is up to you.

What will you do with the time you have left?



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