Without the coat hangers of hours and minutes, we have nothing to fix our lives onto.
We have been on holiday now for 5 days, and the only time hooks we had to think about were 8am for the opening of the breakfast buffet, and 6pm for the closing time for the pool.
And now – suddenly our times are no longer floating seamlessly though open blue skies, a loose collection of reading, walking, sleeping, eating, drinking or simply people-watching. Now time is hitting the tarmac. Check out at noon, taxi at 2.42, gates close, the flight takes off, lands and we must collect our car by midnight.
And tomorrow, work, childcare, meetings, appointments, all with a precise time stamps. And we are back on the clock. Tick we are on time, tock I’m running late, tick, what time is the next thing?
I coach a lot of people through retirement, when traditionally time loses its grip.
I am apparently retired myself. Once my average week was a couple of flights, my day maybe 5 meetings. The diary and the clock ran my life. And then, I left my job and suddenly nothing. An almost blank diary, nothing to work up to, nothing to be late for. All good. But then nothing to look forward to either.
Most of us approach time as a cake to be divided up. Work, school, gym, sleep, exercise, food, travel etc. Nice straight lines. Typically in 60 minute chunks, maybe 30, with the expectation of punctuality. We must be on time.
Other cultures have a more relaxed approach, which can be deeply irritating to the westerner.
As with many things, there is a balance. To overfill our time is like over-inflating a balloon. It creates too much pressure and if pushed to hard it can all go bang. So many people I coach have filled every corner of their lives with work and other responsibilities. There is no room for manoeuvre.
People who seem to be running late all day, exhausted, and unable to run any faster just get more and more stressed and exhausted. They have packed their suitcases so full that there is no room for those important items – fun, self care, relaxation, recovery, even sleep. Or just doing nothing – an anathema to so many of us.
I’m glad to be going home, looking forward to the take off being on time. Empty days with endless choice are lovely, but it’s not sustainable or even desirable for too long. So I will be welcoming the coat hangers. Maybe not so many of them, keeping them loose and mobile, and not hanging on too tightly.
Unwrapping The World 