Destinations

Affirmation:  I gift myself a generous amount of time to travel to my destinations.

I love being at home.  I can putter around the house for an entire day.  I know I’m not the only one.  I have spoken with a lot of people who feel the same way.  Consequently, I can struggle getting out of the house to make it to an appointment or other scheduled event.  “I’ll do just one more ‘little’ thing” I tell myself.  Then, I’ll realize I am not going to make that half hour trip in the fifteen minutes I have left myself.  How do I feel when I finally arrive at my destination?  I feel horrible.  I feel anxious, frustrated and wondering if the appointment will even still be available. 

One day, my whole day ran late.  I found it fascinating that I was operating on “divine time.”  I wasn’t the only one running late; all three of my scheduled events were also running late.  So, I actually arrived on time.  I wish the universe was always so cooperative but the truth is, it is not.  And, normally I need to make an effort, to be conscientious enough, respectful enough to show up at the time to which I have previously agreed. 

I’m never late when my husband is “in charge.”  In fact, he normally leaves so much time, we have arrived places way ahead of time.  I don’t like that either.  I mean, think of all the stuff I could have accomplished in the amount of time I’m waiting around before the event starts.  But, I’m never anxious and I don’t have to worry about missing that plane.  I once had a friend tell me her husband likes to leave so early for the airport; she thought he would start booking a hotel close by the night before they were to leave.  Yes, there are very different approaches to keeping time. 

I like to just allow time to flow, not to look at the watch or the clock and to believe I have as much time as I need to do all the things I want to do and that I will still be wherever I’m supposed to be whenever I’m supposed to be there.  It only works that way occasionally, very occasionally.  When I discussed this with my friends I found we all had different approaches to how we handled arriving “on time.”  One woman set her clock fifteen minutes early all the time.  It worked at first but then she started remembering she had set it ahead, and started arriving later and later because in her mind she had so much extra time.  Some people seem to have a clock implanted in their brain.  They can see the seconds ticking by and everyone in their vicinity needs to respond to their sense of time so no one will miss out.  Others simply decide they will arrive everywhere with an additional fifteen minutes to spare.  You can be late, but not them; they simply move along at whatever pace it takes to arrive ahead of the scheduled time.

I’ve tried all these approaches; none seem to work for me.  Then, I thought about how nice it would be if I wasn’t rushing.  If my travel to my destinations was serene, pleasant, evenly spaced, how truly healthy that would be.  So, I decided to think about allowing enough time to represent a gift I give myself, a generous gift.  I bet you’re wondering if I’m ever rushing now that I have adopted the affirmation:  I gift myself a generous amount of time to travel to my destinations.  Yes, I am.  Yes, I do.  But, it has slowly seeped into my subconscious and every time I head out the door earlier than I use to, I realize it has become an integral part of my daily existence.  More and more often, I have more than enough time to arrive where I need to be and I’ve allowed for unexpected delays and arrive feeling calm and serene.  If I’m early, I simply claim the time for something really important, like a few extra prayers or some mediation.  Yes, it may not sound that important but over the long haul I am sure it is a healthier way for me to deal with time.