Scarcity of Time

choose on purpose

By Christina Nguyen

December 7^th, 2017

It's that time of year again between Thanksgiving, and Christmas. It always manages to sneak up on you, and that feeling is all too familiar. It's usually chaotic finishing up work so that I can take some time off to travel, see friends/family, and make sure holiday festivities are in order. There's always mention in daily conversation about how the year has flown by, and questioning where did the time go. I caught myself saying that many times throughout Prague when I realized our days were dwindling. However, when I arrived in Lisbon something felt completely different. One of the beauties of travel is that it brings stillness into the motion and commotion of life. Nowhere is magical until you bring the right eyes to it.

Life on Remote Year creates a time warp. The days feel long and the months feel short. Why so? Time poverty is problem of perception, and distribution. How we think about our time is important. Too often we suffer from a time-scarcity mindset. There is always a looming sense of being too busy, overwhelmed, and constantly behind on what needs to get done. As a result the way we spend our time affects the way we think about how much time we really have.

At first I felt overwhelmed with having only one month in each country to see, and do everything that each city has to offer. I quickly realized that mindset would not serve me well for the rest of the year. I knew that I needed to be mindful in choosing. Choosing how I spend each day. Choosing which thoughts fill my mind. Choosing how I exert my energy. Choosing what food nourishes my body. Choosing what environments, and people I surround myself with. Choosing these thoughts creates feelings, and these feelings help me push towards the direction of my true path. Recognizing this is merely the jump off point to understanding the abundance of life. How can you start choosing?

Call yourself out on the scarcity self-talk
Do a reality check, and change your attitude
Uncover your values, and figure out what's important to you
Let your mind wander
Appreciate what you have through gratitude
Share freely
Spend spare time looking for flow... your flow
Prepare for resistance

It's natural to feel increased fear, or self-doubt when examining your life, choices, and routines. The resistance is a sign that you’re on the right path heading toward your higher self. If it didn’t matter then you wouldn’t be scared. Time may be finite, but whether or not it is scarce is up to you. Choose on purpose. Live with intent. You've got no where to be, but here.