Reflecting Back and Thinking Forward

A lot has happened in 2016! The year started off with me passing my Registered Dietitian Exam and becoming licensed, looking for jobs which seemed like an eternity, finally taking a vacation with my husband which hasn’t happened in 5 years, and much much more. One thing I thought to myself while reflecting was, “Where does time go? I wish I had more time?!” If you don’t know me personally, I’m a pretty type-A person (although I would say I’ve loosened up a little in the last couple years). I live and die by my planner which maps out my day in 15 minute intervals. I’ve been working two jobs since October, which I’m very thankful I can do, but it has really made me question time. I found myself saying more often than usual, “I don’t have time for this”. I felt myself thinking more negatively and I thought this is not me. I’m not negative and I don’t want to be negative. I’ve taken a few weeks to think about time and happiness, read a little, watched a few Ted talks, and talked with others. This is what I’ve learned and hope to carry with me in 2017. “Time is elastic” (Ted Talk). So many of us are controlled by time which can lead to dissatisfaction. But in all reality, we control time. We build the lives we want and then time builds itself. We decide what’s a priority and what’s not. I’m reminded of this all the time when things don’t go how I planned. Last weekend my heater broke in my car and my first thought was, “NO! I don’t have time to go get this fixed.” You know what? Turns out I made time to fix it. This was totally something out of my control. Things just happen. When you’re forced to find time for things, you will. And when we say “I don’t have time for something”, it really means it’s not a priority. If we treat things that we want to make priorities like something we can’t control then maybe we would make time to do them! “We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.” (Carlos Castaneda) How true is that! I gave all my clients this year a little inspirational quote to motivate them when we aren’t training and this was on one of the cards. It really stuck with me. We control our own happiness. If you’re not happy right now then you need to ask yourself why and what you’re going to do to change that. The amount of work and effort is the same. Stop wasting it being negative and miserable and do something positive that will keep you moving forward. It may be as simple as changing your mindset. Instead of thinking about the past think forward. What do you want out of the next year? What should you make time for or make a priority? Laura Vanderkam (from a Ted Talk) suggests making time for yourself, relationships, and growth in your career. She also said that often people make time for their careers and neglect relationships and self-care. I couldn’t agree more. We need to make time for relationships and ourselves. You want to start eating better? Make time to grocery shop or to cook homemade meals. You want to get in shape? Make time to workout. The amount of time we have in a week is the same (168 hours). What you choose to do with it is up to you.