When The Timer Runs Out
“Come on, come on, come ON!” my teammates frantically shout. Little bits of Grandma’s homemade Chex mix are scattered all over the table. The party playlist is cranking in the background, but no one notices what song is playing. The chatter around the table gets louder and louder and LOUDER until an opponent finally shouts, “TIME’S UP!” and we all let out a big sigh, “Aw! We almost had it!”
It’s game night at the Belotte house, and nothing gets the room more excited than a tiny little hourglass timer placed carefully in the center of the table.
From Pictionary to Taboo to CatchPhrase, almost all of our favorite games involve a timer of some sort. Each person typically gets one minute to complete a task, outpace their opponents, or earn the most points. It keeps the game moving, builds excitement, and without fail – turns the volume of the room up way past what it should normally be at bedtime on a school night.
When you’re playing a game, a funny thing happens as you watch those last few grains of sand drop into the bottom of the hourglass. You talk or scribble faster. You think less clearly and move more frantically. Much to your guest’s amusement, you become a wide-eyed, babbling, hilarious mess of a person.
It’s great for game night, but not so much for everyday life.
When Time Is Your Enemy
“Come on, come on, come ON!” I frantically shout. Little sticky notes are scattered all over my office desk. There’s a business podcast playing in the background, but I’m too stressed to listen to the conversation. I’m trying to upload a report before a deadline, but the WIFI signal at the house is weak. The spinning wheel on my computer screen taunts me as the progress bar loads slower and slower and sloooower until it finally stops, “Session Timeout. Please reload.” I let out a frustrated sigh, “Ah! This is such a waste of time.”
Have you ever been there?
Whether it’s a work deadline, a slow-moving project, or a personal dream, you’ve probably felt the pressure of the clock. You watch the days and months drop off the calendar like grains of sand drop into the bottom of an hourglass. You talk and text faster. You think less clearly and your schedule becomes more frantic. Much to your family and friend’s dismay, you become a bleary-eyed, exhausted and frustrated mess of a person.
I don’t know about you, but I constantly find myself behaving this way. I act as if the rules of game night apply to the rules of life.
- Beat the timer. (“Sure, I know it’s Friday at 4:53pm, but I can finish this before EOB.”)
- Earn the most points. (“Yep, I can run 7 miles, work 8 hours, volunteer in 3 charities, and make 4 batches of cookies for T-ball practice.”)
- Outpace your opponents. (“Of course I can pull an all-nighter. The sooner this project gets done, the better!”)
But the result is always the same. I’m tired, frustrated and disappointed. I feel like I’m perpetually behind and I’ll never catch up. I believe time is running out, so I keep running right alongside it, breathless, exhausted and discouraged.
I know this isn’t healthy, so I’m making a simple switch.
When Time is Your Ally
The hourglass timer may be the centerpiece of our table on game night, but on every other night of the week, a little succulent plant holds that spot. Small but mighty, the plant reminds me,
Growth – not accomplishment – is the true measure of a life well-lived.
If I’m constantly measuring my worth against how much I’ve accomplished in a day – like a contestant on game night – then of course I’m going to think of time as my enemy. It will taunt, frustrate and wreck my joy.
However, if I embrace growth over accomplishment – like the small but mighty succulent plant – then time becomes my ally. With every day that passes, I’m not further behind, but I’m further along. Growth is a slow, but rewarding process.
The minute I try to fast-track growth by giving the plant extra water, air or sunlight, I’ll likely kill it. (Ask me how I know!) The same is true in my own life. It takes small daily doses of the right ingredients to produce the rewarding, happy life I’ve been chasing all along.
So what do you say? Let’s save the hourglass timers for game night. Let’s pursue full lives over full schedules, and let’s embrace time as not an enemy, but an ally.
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