As we enter the holiday season, one of the things that becomes more and more clear is what is truly valuable and precious in life. The material things that cause temporary joy are nothing to our relationships and the people in our lives. Too often though, we neglect what’s truly important for fickle desires. If we really think about it, the most important and valuable thing each of us possesses is time.
Time is a Precious Thing
In today’s world, time is the most precious commodity. We live in a society in which we are constantly plugged in. There is rarely a moment that we can truly disconnect and just, “be”. We’re checking Facebook and Instagram, getting Tweets and texts, always checking email, getting calls and messages. It’s no wonder so many of us feel lost, overwhelmed and down. We can spend so much time “out there” that we can lose sight of who is actually inside. We can lose sight of who we are as individuals.
Focus on What Makes You Happy
I think sometimes things can get so overwhelming that we don’t know what it is that will actually make us happy. We see social media friends (and people Facebook tells us are our friends) living lives in which we only see snap shots of happiness… and it’s easy to immediately feel inadequate.
Instead of focusing on who we are and what we want, we’re constantly comparing and often finding inadequacies when we look at our own day-to-day lives compared to these “perfect” frozen moments in time. What truly makes you happy?
You can have anything you want in life. But you can’t have everything you want in life.
This is a subtle difference but an enormously important truth. You need to put priority on the things that truly matter and go after them. Make your important relationships deeper and richer. Really pursue your true passions and stop being a “jack of all trades” at the cost of mastery of something that actually matters to you. It all comes back to time. You only have so much in a day. Once you subtract your work and other obligations, the “you time” becomes even smaller and more valuable.
Take Time to Be Happy
Periodically, I have to take the time to myself to make sure I am acting in line with my goals and desires. It’s a conscious effort and not something enough of us do or that I do often enough myself. I’ve found that carving out that time is crucial though. I hope you’ll do the same. Sit. Be quiet. Listen to your inner voice. Figure out who you are. Only then can you live your life in a way that the things that deserve to be a priority are actually our priorities. Only then will you be able to pursue real, lasting happiness. Remember: you can have anything, but you can’t have everything. What do you really want?