A precious gift we can give to another is our time, our undivided attention within that time space. When we do, we communicate a message that says, “At this moment you are the most important person in my life.” Imagine how relationships might change if we gave our partner undivided attention. Imagine how our relationships with our children would change if we gave them our undivided attention. We give our undivided attention to what is important to us. To whom or what are you giving your undivided attention? Is it time to reprioritize who or what gets your undivided attention?
importance
Health Facts: Practice Plating
A Simple, but effective way to cut back on calories.
Focus on plating your food on your plate. Imagine you were serving it to an important guest, you are, you are as important as any president, prime ministers, king, queen. Make the food on the plate look attractive. Practice plating and you’ll find yourself eating less over time. You won’t be overcrowding your plate. You’ll discover that you feel satisfied and if you were raised like me (you might hear a distant voice saying, “You belong to the clean plate club.” Well. it’s a lot healthier to clean a plate that is not overloaded with food.
Is It Worth It?
I’m writing this post on Sunday afternoon (the Sunday before Christmas). I go to early mass (8 a.m.) On the way into mass this morning a guitar player was rushing across the lawn carrying her guitar. I waited by the door to hold it open for her. Well, Father L was nearby and waved. I waved back. The guitarist smiled at Father L and came rushing past me. I said, “Good morning.” She answered, “Father saw me. I’m late.” I answered, “Busted, but I’ll cover for you.” I thought she’d laugh. No, she disappeared into the church to join the music group. Funny how little things can upset us and make our stomachs twirl. In the whole scope of one’s life can the world’s greatest scientists using the world’s most sophisticated instruments measure the importance of her being five minutes late for practice? I thank her for the lesson. Some things are not worth giving a second thought. Don’t let then get hold of you.
Thinking Out Loud ~ The Mad Hatter Offers a Lesson About Time
Today’s Thinking Out Loud reflection is on Lewis Carroll’s work, Alice in Wonderland. Alice in Wonderland is available for free download from Project Gutenberg here.
Alice sighed wearily. “I think you might do something better with the time,” she said, “than wasting it asking riddles with no answers.”
“If you knew Time as well as I do,” said the Hatter, “you wouldn’t talk about wasting it. It’s him.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” said Alice.
“Of course you don’t!” the Hatter said, tossing his head contemptuously. “I daresay you never spoke to Time!”
Note: I once stopped for dinner at a highway restaurant. My waitress didn’t stop moving for a moment. She was going back and forth, this way and that way in perpetual motion. From what I could see nothing much was getting done. I could barely catch her attention. She filled her time with busyness. The time we have is a treasure. A moment of time lost, is a moment lost forever. When we understand the preciousness of each moment, we gain a new perspective of what is important and what is not so important. Maybe the Hatter is right, we need to get know Time.
Something to Think About
The less one needs, the freer one is. It takes lots of introspection and reflection to make choices about what one really needs. Once one determines what one really needs, life changes. In contrast, the chase to accumulate wants only leads to more wants in an never ending spiraling circle. Make a list of what you really need. Put it all down. Keep the list in a place where you can review it daily. Over the next two weeks see if you can whittle it down to no more than a half dozen needs. You’ll discover what is important to you.
