So Much Time and So Little to Do

“We have so much time, and so little to do… Stop, strike that, reverse it.”  – Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

I have a problem. You see, things are busy. Life with four small kids, a house to clean, food to prepare, a few projects on the go, people to see or call, things to do, Facebook to check, emails and text messages to check and reply to, there’s that television show that I like to watch and the news to listen to to catch the weather forecast (despite being able to check my phone), things to write, shopping to do, and there is probably something else that I have forgotten at any one time. Is your life similar?

My problem is that I can’t just be. I can’t be idle. I have trouble being in the moment. I do have time, but I fill it with little things, little noises that crowd my day. They are little distractions that take me away from the opportunities that God is giving me in each moment – graces to notice things, to simply be with myself, to be with God, to be with my loved ones.

That doesn’t mean that what I’m busy with isn’t necessarily important. It just needs to not crowd my being. I need to better discern between God and God’s works.

So often it can be easy to prioritize things wrong, so simple to waste small moments. I need to make more time for prayer rather than distractions or excuses, particularly in the quiet moments. To enjoy my family without thinking of things that could or need to be done.

So what Willy Wonka says is true, we do have so much time, in the scheme of things we do have so little to do. Because in a lifetime what we do in those little moments adds up, creates habits and potentially takes us away from what matters.

So here’s my plan for this week. To try to ‘Stop, strike that, reverse it’ and to try to spend the little times doing things that really matter.