If you’ve traveled around the sun enough times, you’ve heard the saying “Time is money.” Somewhere out there someone just thought, “well if that’s the case, WHERE MY MONEY AT?!”……No? Just me? 🤷🏾‍♀️ I sure could use some more of both if you know what I mean.

Many times, countless times in fact, I’ve heard that time is of the essence, time waits for no man, time is money. As a kid, hearing that made me wonder whether or not it was actually possible to convert time into money. You know, I thought I could take my time in my hands and walk up to a bank like, “I saved this much time and I’d like to exchange it for some cash.” 🤣🤣 Silly kid! But seriously, what if that was possible?!🤯

On January 1st, I was instructed to get my house in order, it was more of a “get👏🏾it👏🏾to👏🏾ge👏🏾ther👏🏾” call. *sigh* I knew this would require making sacrifices, but I had a plan, I thought I could juggle work and life demands. I mean I’d done it several times, it’s nothing. Ain’t nothing to it but to do it!💪🏿

Well, you may or may not have noticed that I have been MIA for the first quarter of the year. This was by no means a 2018 plan; however, work and personal projects demanded my focus and time so much that something had to give, and it ended up being all things TV and social media — I love my e-fam and I’ll def check in with y’all💋.

While I do miss the ability to “stay connected” and to always be “in the know,” I’ve found that I have much more time to do and live life by cutting back on social media time and TV time. I quickly realized that if I didn’t have time, time would continue to have me; I’ve lived the life of running against the clock, and that is one never ending race.

Let me tell you, after the first month of dreadful withdrawals, I noticed that I am more alert, intentional, self aware, productive, and effective, I’m less irritated, still anxious, but God is turning it around🙏🏾. My discipline is on a different level; certain things that I’d dreamt of or prayed about doing one day have become reality. I’m able to do little things like wake up early, have quiet time with God, and prep for the day ahead. All because…TIME.

In college, I HATED the idea of having such a structured/strict lifestyle as an adult- BORING! But as I grow older, I realize that while tracking my time might seem structured/strict, it’s helping me in my journey to become a better version of myself. Heck, tracking my time has enabled me to almost “Adult” and have fun moments while doing it! Lol (I’m still trying to figure this whole Adulting thing out for real.)

I’m also learning to give time time. In a fast paced world of instant gratification and little to no patience, we’ve grown to expect everything in life to happen with the snap of a finger. We’re no longer interested in investing the time, effort, and patience required to grow. The risk in doing this is we end up with premature growth/success, which is fleeting in nature. Imagine a farmer plants a seed of corn in the ground, he waters it, fertilizes it, let’s the sun shine on it, and a few hours later returns expecting a harvest of corn. In anticipation, he digs up the seed only to find that he has interrupted the process required for that seed to become a harvest.

GIVE TIME TIME.

When we let time transpire as it is designed, we allow ourselves the experience of every shift, shake, and shedding as we elevate. And guess what, that state of elevation remains solid! Because….Time

King Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived said it eloquently, “For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance.” Ecclesiastes 3:1-4NLT

Time is highly valuable, it’s actually the greatest constraint we have here on earth and has a significant impact on EVERYTHING. I mean it’s literally considered in the valuation of money (a little ode to my finance folks lol). So it goes without saying that what you do with your time determines the outlook of your life. Take control of your time.

How do you spend your time?  Try this exercise for the next 7 days; it’ll require your dedication, but I promise it’s worth it! Make a note of how you spend your time from the moment you wake up to the moment you head to bed at night.

1. How many hours do you actually have for yourself in a day? I have about 8 hours for myself. (11 hours working/driving, 5 hours sleeping).
2. How do you spend those hours? Cook, errands, quiet/prayer time, relax/nap, catchup with family and friends, and work on personal goals. Pretty much adulting!
3. What could you do better? Zero to no procrastination. Work first, then play/rest.
4. What could you do less of or without? TV & SM browsing.
5. How has this helped you? I seem to have more time than I thought I did. I am more focused and productive. 

After 7 days, sit and review each day. Using those details, create a schedule for yourself. Here’s an arbitrary schedule:

5:00am-5:15 am Wake-up (cuz it takes me that long to wake up)

5:15am Get out of bed

5:20am-5:45am Quiet/prayer Time

5:45am-6:00am  Make smoothie/eat breakfast and Pack lunch

6:00am-7:00am Study, plan, review to do list.

7:00am-7:45am Get ready for work

and the list goes on…This is a useful tool to start off with. You can also schedule these activities in your calendar on your phone. Find the calendar on your smartphone and plug things in! No, nothing is too little not to be important. Remember every second counts!

SIDE NOTE: I actually schedule “me time” as well; I pick a Saturday at random and decide “this is the day I choose to maximally self-care.” Let no one or nothing change that time because you are as important as those you seek to help.

You can also choose not to conduct the exercise, but I’ll ask you this…How valuable is your time? How valuable is your life? Let the answers be your motivation to take control of your time.

*Tick Tock*

∼Moyo∼

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I’d like to provide an opportunity to those who are yet to meet with Jesus. If you have a deep desire to know Jesus and enter into the kingdom of God you are in great company. I did at some point in my life, and it was the greatest desire that God ever met! 

I invite you to pray the sinner’s prayer: Dear Jesus, I accept that I am a sinner and I confess my sins before you. I believe that you died for my sins and rose again to give me a new life.  I ask that you forgive me of my sins; cleanse me with your precious blood which you shed on the cross of Calvary. I accept you as my personal Lord and Savior. Fill me up with your Holy Spirit and strengthen me. I profess that I am a new creature; old things have passed away and I have become new in You. Thank You, Lord! In Jesus’ name, AMEN!

If you prayed the prayer, WELCOME TO THE KINGDOM FAMILY!! You are a new creature, the old has passed and the new is here! Be sure to find a bible believing, Spirit-led church in your city and purchase a bible in a version that you understand. I use the  New Living Translation, Message, Free Bible, Christian Standard Bible, or the New International Version. Enjoy the journey!