fishingI was reading an article recently about the value of time as it relates to stress and punctuality in our Western society. It seems the American tendency to be up tight about time is extreme in comparison to other cultures. Sometimes the day seems like people run around in what I call “ambulance mode” – tending to the urgent instead of the most important. Well, our standard is becoming a minority viewpoint when it comes to some values or traditions that we once embraced. Our nation continues to evolve into a true multicultural mix of equality and freedom for all. So maybe it’s time to reconsider our relationship with time?

“Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in.” Henry David Thoreau


Well that’s a pretty free-spirited way to think about time! To Thoreau, time is like the water in the stream, continually passing by while we sit with our bait on a hook at the end of a line tied to a rod. I think his quote shares a vision of relaxation, spending time in an activity that so many enjoy and can relate to.

Time. We tend to…

list it…
prioritize it…
implement it…

We glance at a clock and ponder over a calendar.

Obligatory vs. discretionary time? Yes, we categorize it too. That’s a loaded one. Time can get messy if we become stressed when an activity takes more time that we anticipated and then cuts into something else we had hoped or promised to do. We have to make a decision – do I cut out on what I was doing before finishing to move on to the next, or do I complete what I was doing as that would be most efficient, then pick up the pieces of what was on the calendar. Either way, it is stressful to jump from one activity to another when we haven’t completed the task at hand, while the same stressed feeling is found when we endure to completion and are then late for the next.

I can tell you one of the challenges of working in foreign lands has been how the natives there value time in comparison to US. Many people who have traveled through the Caribbean for work will tell you the same thing – it’s difficult to accomplish tasks on schedule because the people there are more relaxed about time. It seems their carefree lifestyle transcends the need to get things done in a reasonable timeframe from our point of view.

I guess my point is this: Time is like an attitude – The more you let time control you the more frustrating your world may be (Click To Tweet). There is something that we can learn about ourselves by how we perceive and “value” time. It is one of our most valuable resources, but we are in control of how we use and perceive it, in so many ways.

How do you feel about time? Do you feel like it is passing you by like water in the stream? Is that good, or bad?