Magically Finding Time

I believe that most of the time people confuse time with feeling at peace.  When they say "I don't have time for that right now"  they are really saying "I don't feel calm enough to focus on that right now".  If you go around in a state of being frazzled you will never have 'time' to do anything.  Then you will feel more frazzled because you are not getting anything done.  You will find yourself in a deadly loop of needing time but having no time.  The biggest thing in "finding time for things" is to learn how to 'have grace under fire' as they used to say.  This ability to keep a cool head comes more easily for some than for others, but it can be learned.  You can set up situations in which you have some minor distractions that are not enough to keep you from doing what you have assigned for yourself.  Then up the level of distractions and see if you can still learn to focus. This can do wonders for your ability.  I have heard that Japanese business students have to endure being shouted at by their teachers so they will learn to be calm when negotiating business deals in the world of cut throat business. It seems to work for them.
 Two other things can also help you use your emotional reactions to things in order to be more productive.  (1) Set priorities. When you feel that what you are doing is important you feel validated and that helps you stay on task and get things done.  In other words, use time wisely. (2) Break things down, find the parts of each task.  When you do this you are able to tell yourself you are wise and productive.  You are refusing to be overwhelmed and you are still getting things done.  I want to point out another facet of the "I don't have time for that right now" statement.  Sometimes a person is really saying "I think that is hogwash and I have no intention of being stupid enough to even consider it".  Perhaps you need to question yourself when you say you don't have time for something.  Perhaps it is actually something you should not try to have time for.  Something you should not even waste time on considering.I say to all wise magicians.  Reach out to find the time you really want and it just might be there for you. May the spark be with you.

The Magic of 'Due Time' Scheduling

Sometimes, when we think about 'getting our priorities straight' it is linked with the idea of an either or choice.   If losing weight is a priority you will give up nightly hot fudge sundaes.  But there can be a sense of peacefulness, therefore magic, when you know how to fit certain things into your time use schedule with a sense of "due time".  It isn't just first things first, second things second and so on.  When you schedule that way the third and fourth things often get left out totally. I suggest you make a to-do list of things you want to do. Let yourself become aware of things you think you want to do but your soul says they are not that important. Like keeping up with the Jones.  Accept that certain things really need to get done or there will be trouble for you.  Certain things need to get done at certain times of the day and week.  I shouldn't be having the sprinkler going on the front lawn after 10 am and before 6pm. Doctor's appointments have to be made during clinic hours. Things like that.  But it is perfectly fine to put clothes in the washer at midnight.There may be all kinds of time available to you to do things if you refuse to let time-wasting stress attack you.
Now, look at your list and your calendar and transcend any stress you feel about getting things on that list done.  Tell yourself that things will get done, things will happen, in their due time. Look for things you can do while you are doing something else that doesn't require much attention.  I used to knit in doctor's waiting rooms. I often pay bills while I am watching TV.  Also look for things that you can do partially in small chunks of time.  Assemble a casserole in the morning.  Go to work, come home, take it out of the fridge, pop it in the oven and enjoy it for supper.  Another way to make 'due time' work for you is to avoid trying to do things when your mental energy is low.  I need to hand deliver a letter tomorrow.  But it was hot when I found out where to take it and my brain was soft fudge.  All I could do was sit in the room where the air conditioning unit is and try to put myself back together.  Now I am rested and no longer suffering from the heat.  I will probably write it after I post my blog.  Or early tomorrow morning.  Due time also kicks in when you try to find fun times for doing things.  Very early in the morning is a joyous time for many people.  Getting some physical work done at daybreak can be enjoyable.  "Building a house before breakfast" was a saying often heard in my first father-in-law's household. Get up, work up an appetite then come back for breakfast and visiting when you are fully awake, was the idea.
So I say to all wise magicians: Do not let the need to get thing done give you stress.  Your time is yours to control.  Stress can make you forget to do things or take too long to do them.  Develop a sense of "due time" and life will work better for you.  May the spark be with you.

The Magic of Facing Up

The first rule of stress management is to come in out of the storm.  When we are near a state of panic we need to first, find a moment of calm.  Until we are able to think a bit clearly we can't do anything to change the situation.  But once we have put the negative thoughts, the worries and anxieties on a shelf or in a box it is amazingly easy to keep them there.  That is when the 'nagger' is a wonderful friend, whether we admit it or not. I have not been very active with my creative writing lately.  I have been more focused on survival and self-help writing.  But I have been feeling that I needed to confront that.  This morning during the "magical first hour"(the way I refer to the time when I am waking up but also aware of the creativity I want to focus on for the day) I did face up to how much I need to get back to my creative writing.  Then I had a couple of ideas about ways I can create time and space in my office or dining room to facilitate that desired writing.  The decision to allow myself to write the fun stuff seemed to give me a magical boost in many ways.  I had more energy for the functional writing and for other life tasks.  I realized this extra energy, this bit of magic had come when I had stopped and confronted the bit of dis-ease I had been feeling from 'ignoring the song my soul wanted to sing'.
So I suggest to all wise magicians that you too, may find a bit of extra life energy by confronting little stressors in your life.  When you face up, you are given the way to solve the problem.  Whether it be in your creative life, becoming more productive in other ways, or in relationships, if you face up to the need for change you will be given the way to make things better for yourself.  Reach out to the magic that surrounds you for help and face up to something.  It will work magic in your life.  May the spark be with you.

A Magic Question

At times you may be having writer's block or some other type of creative block. When this happens it colors your world gray. You don't want to go away from the project that is so important to you, but you don't see a way forward, either. Here is where you can ask your self a magic question. What would I like to be (feeling, doing, thinking, writing) instead? As soon as you accept that you are master of your choices it will lift the cloud of blah from you. You may not get the zing just then for the project that was trying to defeat you. But you have broken the log jam and can now ask whatever relevant questions you need to ask. You may ask how you can express your idea in a different way. (What do I want to be saying instead?) Or you may find that a more important project or idea is ready to come forth and you need to give energy in that direction while the idea is hot. Sometimes you are attacked by the blah monster even before you are actually working on something. I believe that sense of resistance is an important clue that you need to stop and get more clarity about your goal. Again, the 'instead' question can be very helpful. You know your basic values and message. You just may need to find another way of expressing them, instead.
When the blah cloud visits it can be fun to go back to square one and visit the magic of your message. You are unique and have a unique way of singing your soul's song. Don't let the blah cloud interfere with that. Ask how you can sing out in other ways instead. May the spark be with you.

The Magic Of Well Done

Sometimes you may pour so much into getting a project or task done that you wear yourself out. That is the time to take your magic wand and get another surge of energy. One good way to do this is to look at the finished work and say "Well done".
That moment of self appreciation will do wonders for you mentally, physically and even spiritually. In that timeless moment you are at one with all creativity.
Figurative 'patting yourself on the back' has many benefits. It will boost your self esteem, reinforce your standards of doing something well and energize you for more effort. Sometimes you may need to give yourself a little boost but don't have an immediate accomplishment to appreciate. Then you can cast your mind over other projects you have done well. Sometimes just staying with something until it is done, whether it is perfect or not, is an accomplishment you can be proud of. When you say "Well done." do more than give it lip service. Let a feeling of well being and pride engulf you. Letting good facts become good feelings is a major way to encourage your personal strength of mind. You have many things about you that you have created well. Continue to live so that you can say of yourself, "Well done." May the spark that encourages that be with you.

The Magic Of Decision

I want to start off with two quotes, one of which I have referred to before, that by Goethe. First let me quote Wilfred A. Peterson, "Decision is the spark that ignites action. Without a decision being made, nothing happens." Now Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe "Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, grace and power in it." Sometimes it is hard to make a decision. Perhaps you don't have enough information. Perhaps it will go wrong. Well, one way to get information is to try something and see what happens. Making decisions is a main component of creativity. Not just one but a series of them. One decision is made and thought about then that leads to another. Action with thought is far superior to worry. The smallest decisions can break up the biggest log-jams. Decide to do something good for yourself today. Perhaps it will just be looking for a good fact to be happy about. But that decision will start a whole chain of events. Use you power of decision to guide those events. Your life is meant to be satisfying and fulfilling. Make the decision to act towards that end. May the spark be with you.