How do you find time to do what you love?

The other weekend I went to this amazing event called Chantlanta. There was, of course, kirtan, but they also had classes in yoga, 5 rhythms, and meditation. The whole experience was amazing. After only a couple of hours, I left feeling renewed and rejuvenated. I felt like a whole new person. It totally changed the course of my day and the day after that. Have you ever had an experience like that? Something that makes you feel so good that the good feelings last for days? This is a fairly common occurrence with group events like workshops, seminars, and retreats.

At any rate, I just had to share the joy and good energy on Facebook. I posted “I wish I could meditate, chant, and do yoga every day.” The most common response was: “Well, why can’t you?”

Hold on, STOP. You mea
I can meditate, chant, and practice yoga EVERY SINGLE DAY? People wouldn’t think I’m crazy if I did that? Where would I find the time? My friends had no doubts that this kind of daily activity was possible. So why didn’t I?

When you think about it, we’re all given the same amount of time in a day. We’re all given the same 24 hours to accomplish stuff. Some people use their time to work at a job they love, while others use it to work at a job they –for lack of a better word- hate. Some people laze around in front of the TV all day; others are out finding a cure for world hunger. I love this quote:

“Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo Da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.” –H. Jackson Brown

Where I grew up, it was expected that you would make the most of the time you were given. You were expected to work fast and as hard as you can to get as much down as possible. Moving to the south was like seeing a whole new world. People do things pretty slowly down here, at least in comparison to New England. You could say that southerners are just taking their time and people in New England are rushing it. (Guess it depends on your perspective). ;]

Regardless of where you grew up, there’s a pretty common thread here in America: it’s not typically accepted to make time for yourself. Especially for women! We’re expected to cook, clean, hold up the household, shop for groceries, and go to work. One might argue that that’s the old paradigm, but it doesn’t seem to have changed much, now has it? Although it makes perfect sense to develop a daily practice of meditation, chanting, and yoga because it nourishes my overall well-being and puts me in a good mood, I also second-guess it because “Where will I find the time?”

My point: you have to MAKE the time. You don’t “find” an extra hour in the day. You MAKE an extra hour. You say, “I don’t really need to clean out the car today. Instead, I’ll spend that time practicing yoga.” If there doesn’t seem to be a time where you can swap out an activity then wake up early. Set your priorities. Decide what’s really important to you. When you’re looking to make time, ask yourself if what’s in your schedule is really necessary. If not, cross out the task. If it is, does it need to be done today?

Here’s my challenge to you: find one thing that you’d like to do more of. You can do it every day or once a week. It can be yoga, meditation, prayer, exercise, sleeping, getting a massage, or any of a number of other possibilities. Then make time. Put it in your schedule and make that time non-negotiable. It’s not time to “practice yoga or do dishes, whichever takes precedence at the time.” It is “yoga time.”