Once upon a time, reality tapped me on the shoulder and said: “Wake up, the world is turning and here you are.”

And I looked down at my ever-soft hands, felt my long, shiny hair brushing lightly against my back, and observed my ever-steady, ever-clear mind, and realized this is what I’ve got. Here. Now. Oh why yes, for now, that beautiful, sweet little time is all mine.

Many will tell you to “use it wisely” but perhaps it is more about allowing it to wisely use you. Because you see, time is passing, and the only two possible options are to be in flow with it or to be in denial about it.

In flow, life feels joyful and light. Creation abounds, expression exudes, and love is omnipresent. In denial, lower vibrations creep in, leading to states of dullness, misalignment, fatigue, doubt, and fear.

The thing about time is you can dance with it or you can store it away in the back of the attic but it won’t change a damn thing except for your own happiness.

Oh, let me sit here under my willow tree and let time take its sweet little time. Maybe I’ll even befriend it, because one day, it’s taking me with it. And friends are good to have and maybe I’ll introduce it to the butterfly that I met yesterday and maybe tomorrow it’ll keep going in its perfect order so my cookies bake just right and maybe today it’ll remind me that it is freedom, not jail. It allows room for growth, not complacency. It is where grace resides and faith is restored and man oh man, you’ve done it again, time. You’ve given us everything we asked for. Thank you.

Practical steps:

Remember the word “no” exists:

1. No, I can’t take the job, 7 am is when I do breathwork.
2. No, I can’t come out, I have to tidy my space and listen to piano.
3. No, I can’t go to the meeting, I want to water my plants.
4. No, I don’t feel like it, I need to spend some time stretching and reconnecting with my body.
5. No, I can’t take on another responsibility, I’d like to work on my own projects.

How we can flow with time:

• Following your bliss – when you actively decide to give the things that are important to you center stage of your life, you will find that they are only amplified
• Finding gratitude in all – saying thank you to the Sunshine, choosing not to step on a bug, walking barefoot in the grass, laughing when you spill flour while baking
• Taking things lightly – because when did it get so serious and who said so and what if they were wrong? What if it could be as simple as toast and homemade jam for breakfast, reading in the sun in the afternoon, sliding around the hardwood floor in socks, wearing comfortable pajamas to bed? What if it were all simple indeed?
• Allowing it to be what it is – releasing any attachments to outcomes and choosing instead to live joyfully in the present. Acknowledging that the only control you have is control over your own mind and your power lies within your own thoughts.

And here’s us actively choosing to be in denial to time:

• Opposition to truths + victimhood – believing a situation should be different than what it is
• Not accepting your own timeline – wishing to be at some point in your life other than the one you are at right now will always, without fail, be a waste of your precious time
• Believing in “wrong timing” – feeling that something would have worked out differently in a different time. Everything is constantly working out for your benefit: the lessons you are learning now will serve you later. All timing is inherently perfect as is, because there is no other way. This is it. This is how it is happening. Breathe into the acceptance.
• Feeling that the Universe is doing anything other than all things for and in your best interest – unseen forces are working in your favor and you will be rewarded when you learn to relax into the universal support system. Just as everything in nature works in perfect order, so too do you. You are in intricate part of a system that is designed to exponentially better itself.

Yesterday I offered a butterfly and tomorrow a cookie but today I just have myself and, make no mistake, time makes no distinctions — all I need to do is be me as authentically as possible and time starts cheering: “Yes, darling, that is exactly what I’m here for: so you can learn to be beautifully, unapologetically you”