In the novel "Fight Club" Chuck Palahniuk, stated through the protagonist: "This is your life and it ends every minute". It is a truth as big as Everest, but we refuse to accept it. We refuse to accept that we die a little each day.
Said this way it may sound quite dramatic or even depressing, but it's actually the other way around. Being aware that we die a little bit every day should give us new strength to make us enjoy life more and appropriate our time which, after all, is the most precious asset of which
we have.
A letter from the past that teaches us something comes from the sage Seneca. During the last three years of his life the Roman philosopher Seneca wrote the famous Letters to Lucilius, a total of 124 letters in which he addressed various issues related to life, in one of these he talks about the importance of time:
“Behave like this, my Lucilius, claim your right over yourself and the time that until now was taken away from you or stolen or lost, pick it up and treasure it.
Convince yourself that it is just like that, as I write to you: certain moments are taken away from us, others stolen and still others get lost in the wind. But the most shameful thing is wasting time through negligence. Think about it: a good part of our existence disappears in doing evil, most in doing nothing and all of it in acting differently from what is supposed to.
Can you point me to someone who gives a fair value to his time, and to his day, who understands that he dies every day? Here is our mistake: we see death in front of us and instead a large part of it is already behind us: the past life belongs to death.
So, dear Lucilius, do what you write to me: put every minute to good use; you will be less of a slave to the future if you master the present. Between one postponement and the next, life goes away. Nothing belongs to us, Lucilius, only time is ours. Nature has made us masters of this only good, fleeting and fleeting: anyone who wants can deprive us of it.
Men are so foolish that if they get insignificant goods, of no value and in any case compensable, they accept that they are put into account and, instead, nobody thinks they owe anything for the time they have received, when it is really the only thing. that not even a grateful person can give back ".
How to win back time?
Most people think that tomorrow will have time. And he spends his entire life postponing decisions and joys, thinking that tomorrow will be better than today. But did you know that we only live an average of 30 days?
Having said that, it doesn't seem like we have much time. Therefore, it is better not to waste even a day. Like?
- Focusing on the essential. We live in a world of infinite possibilities, but many of these are just distractions that rob us of our time. It is not about stopping dreaming, but about adopting a more realistic attitude, focusing on the truly essential things that can give us satisfaction and that fill every moment of our life with meaning. Stop and think about yesterday, remember three activities that you have done that can have a positive impact on your life within the next five years, or that have made you happy. If you don't meet them, it's time to reorganize the
your daily agenda, because every day that doesn't matter is a lost day.
- By learning to say no. Don't let others abuse your time, use it wisely and, if necessary, say "no". Refuse whenever you feel it is appropriate if it means you can spend more time on the things that truly thrill you and make you happy. Remember that there are many emotional vampires who do not appreciate your work, but are willing to steal not only your energy but your time as well. Having a healthy self-esteem and taking charge of life also means setting limits, setting priorities and saying “no” to others or to temptations. Remember, if you want time for yourself, you must be determined to create it for yourself.
- Disconnettiti. Traveling is not taking pictures, selfies and making videos and then uploading them to the web or social networks, traveling is immersing yourself in culture, talking to people and enjoying the scents and flavors that the chosen destination contains. If you want to find your time, it is imperative that you disconnect because constantly depending on the latest news, constantly using WhatsApp or updating your profile on social networks, it is not living, it is consuming uselessly, it is letting time pass without doing anything with it. Instead, meditate, read, discover a new place, talk to someone, spend time with yourself… Live!
- Do something every day that we are passionate about. “Don't put off what you can do today until tomorrow,” goes an old saying that we often forget. Perhaps, now we are involved in a big project that is stealing a lot of time, but you must always make sure to keep at least 1 hour to devote to our passion. This way you will not only be able to relax, but you will also feel much better at the end of the day. Remember that great successes are not built overnight, but have a history marked by sacrifice and constant effort behind them. Start today a personal project that excites you, if you dedicate even just one hour a day to it, it will gradually grow and in the not too distant future you will be able to enjoy its fruits.
- Follow the 3D rule. The main problem to regain control of our time is that every day we are faced with dozens of activities that leave us without energy and consume until the last minute of the day. To deal with this problem David Allen proposes the 3D rule: Delete, Delegate, Do. Analyze each of the tasks in front of you, eliminate those that are useless, delegate those that you don't have to do (don't fall into the trap of believing that you are Superman) and, finally, do not postpone those that you have to do, get to work without excuses or pretexts. . Remember that procrastination is a major time eater.
Don't count the days, make every day count.
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