Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Unscheduled Time

I’ve come to reckon that “Unscheduled Time” is the bane of many fellow pilgrims.  More specifically, unscheduled time combined with the unperturbed moment is a double jeopardy construct.  When we are not “sorely pressed”, we tend to get “wrinkled” … unstrung … unhinged … detached … and undone.

Unscheduled time, combined with the unperturbed moment, is an opportunity to plug more directly in to our truest Destiny. 

However,  during unscheduled/unperturbed time, which we treat without passing thought as “Free Time”, most of us are more prone to UNPLUG ourselves from anything faintly resembling Destiny and, instead, plug into anything and everything as far removed from Destiny as possible.  This condition allows something we call “Fate” to take over our lives, and the results, without exception, aren’t pretty! 

I believe the real problem in dealing with the unperturbed/unscheduled moment is that we don’t have or recognize or cultivate truest Destiny “Plug-Ins” – call them “Apps”, if you like.  We naturally resist structure, discipline and “meaningful” pursuits that require some effort, missing or ignoring completely the “energizing” effect of hitching our wagon to a star and focusing all our attention and energies into a Grand Plan, Purpose or Goal.    

So we’ve got to develop our “Plug-Ins” with care – and on purpose. 

First, start with a Grand Plan.  It doesn’t have to be specific or grandiose.  It can be as simple as: “I want to become the best I can be.”   More specifics might help, such as: “I want to become the best student/salesperson/writer/producer/craftsman I can be.”  But specifics are not necessary in the beginning.

Then make a list of things that relate to that Grand Plan.  This should include skill-building activities, reading/research, tool acquisition (computer, software, tools-of-trade, etc.), connecting with significant others in a particular field of interest, and anything that will enhance “the color of your parachute”.  

Your list is a “Plug-In” master panel.  It is your “GO-TO” Plug-In store specifically designed to take maximum advantage of the unperturbed/unscheduled moment.  Your plug-ins should include stuff you need to do to survive, stuff that will help you stay organized, and stuff you find refreshing/restorative/regenerative.  Importantly, there should be no place on this list for television, videogames, tweeting, texting and twittering.  These activities are akin to drugs that drain life-sustaining oxygen out of our veins.  You might as well do “blood-letting”! 

If you have too much unscheduled/unperturbed time and find yourself gravitating to any of the above diversionary activities, you need to get a Grander Plan.  Your Destiny awaits and Fate will have to move on to more degenerative fields of opportunity.   

One of my personal “Plug-Ins” is exercise.  In fact, I think exercise should be near the top of any Grand Plan Plug-In list.  It increases circulation, clears cobwebs in the brain, energizes the body, increases momentum, brightens the spirit, capacitizes our constitution for exigencies, helps in “Centering Down”, and aerates the soul. 

Be ruthless in planning, “Plugging-In” and purposefully using unscheduled/unperturbed time. 

“Time is God’s way of keeping everything from happening at once.”
Author Unknown

Don’t keep putting off those things on your Destiny’s “Plug-In List” that need to be happening NOW – during the unscheduled/unperturbed moment; it makes’ God’s job a lot easier if we do OUR part on OUR time! 

"The time for taking all measures for a ship's safety is while still able to do so."
Admiral Nimitz, in a letter to the Pacific Fleet, 1945
 

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”
J.R.R. Tolkien “The Fellowship of the Ring”

 

No comments:

Post a Comment