Found Time

This was it! I had been looking forward to this weekend for the past three months. To kick off my year long leave of absence from my government job, I organized a weekend retreat and invited friends and colleagues, Wise Wonderful Women.

It was 1:00 pm and I had run my last errand of the day. Done. Made the final check mark on the day's "To do" list of 11 items. I was feeling rushed because my guests would be arriving at the cottage in just a couple of hours and I wanted to be there ahead of time to prepare everything. I had a good hour of driving to get there.

I finished buying and packing away the food in the back of my car and closed the trunk door in a hurry to get on my way. Panic set in as I realized that I had locked the keys inside the car! Grrrr! I tried a couple of deep breaths to recenter myself and to think of options. My daughter has already left for her shift at work. The lady I approached in the parking lot asking for a lift home said she was not going that way. The nearby garage did not have a mechanic on staff to help out. Our neighbour did not answer the phone. Finally, I phoned my husband at work (a 30 minutes drive away) to come to my rescue. It would take a while. He had to wrap up a few things at the office, pick up my nephew who was staying with us for the weekend, and swing by home to pick up the spare set of keys.

So there I was, stranded in a parking lot for at least an hour. There was two ways to look at this: stress about the precious time I was losing waiting for help or change my attitude and see it as "found time" (time that I had not planned on spending that way and was just there to enjoy). The old Sylvie fell right into the "poor me" and angry routine. That was very familiar territory but for some reason (maybe I am growing up?) I made a different choice.

I looked at my surroundings with a spirit of adventure. What could I do now that would be fun? A few days ago, I had noticed that a nearby store had a summer sale. So, I walked in there, tried on a bunch of clothes and experimented with new looks. I got amazing bargains: a pair of pants for $8.95 and two tops for $6.95 each. Left the store with a smile on my face. Walked into the nearby Starbucks and ordered a coffee. Rather than racing out the store, downing my coffee while driving off somewhere as I usually do, I actually sat down to savour it. Before I knew it, the hour had passed and my knight in shining armor showed up with the spare key to get me on my way.

I actually enjoyed myself. The only difference between what could have been a frustrating experience and what ended up being a pleasant experience was simply a mindset. A change of attitude. A choice.

Can you think of a time where something similar happened to you? What would you do with "Found Time" next time around? What would you do the next time your friends cancel out on a dinner date at the last minute or the instructor doesn't show up for your class or your flight is delayed?

How could you think yourself into a more positive state of mind and make the most of an inconvenient situation?

You may have come across this on the Internet once upon a time. The author is unknown but the message is powerful.

Imagine you were a member of a very unique bank which:

• Credits your account each morning with $86,400
• Carries over no balance from day to day
• Allows you to keep no cash balance whatsoever
• Every evening cancels whatever part of the amount you had failed to use during the day

Under those guidelines, I imagine you’d draw out every cent every day, wouldn’t you?
Well, believe it or not, every one of us has just such a bank. The name over the door reads TIME.

• Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds!
• Every night it writes off, as a loss, whatever of the amount you have failed to invest in a productive purpose.
• It carries over no balance.
• It allows no overdraft.
• Every day it opens a new account for you.
• Every night it burns the records of the day.
• If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours.
• There is no going back. There is no drawing against “tomorrow.”

You must live in the present on today’s deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and success!

The clock is running. Make the most of today.
Carpe Diem! Seize the day!