You won’t be here forever. So live intentionally.

by | Oct 30, 2022

You won’t be here forever. So live intentionally.

I just returned from Portugal. I spent the last 18 days exploring the beautiful sites, history, and culture along with my wife and her mother. It was so enjoyable! There are so many interesting things to see and explore, and so much history.

One town that we visited was Évora. While there we visited the “Capela dos Ossos” (“Chapel of Bones”). This site blew me away.

It is a chapel that was constructed and decorated with the bones of thousands of people. It served as a reminder of our mortality.

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There was something about this place; it forced me to reflect on my mortality, to question how I live my life, to ponder how well I am spending the precious time that I have.

There was an incredible poem inside that really spoke to me. It is attributed to Padre António da Ascenção, with the translation by Carlos A. Martins .

Where are you going in such a hurry, traveller?
Stop… do not proceed any further;
You have no greater concern,
Then this one: that on which you focus your sight.
Recall how many have passed from this world,
Reflect on your similar end,
There is good reason to reflect
If only all did the same.
Ponder, you so influenced by fate,
Among the many concerns of the world,
So little do you reflect on death;
If by chance you glance at this place,
Stop … For the sake of your journey,
The more you pause, the more you will progress.

It was a powerful reminder that my time in this world is limited, and that I need to be intentional about how I spend it. It forced me to reflect deeply on life and time.

Remember, how you are spending your time is how you are spending your one precious life.

Life is short; too short to be spending it working in a job that does not fill you up, that does not allow you to become who you are capable of becoming.

In the end, we return to bones and dust. So we may as well spend the limited time that we have doing things that matter to us.

Quotation that I have been pondering

Coming from an Information Technology background, I find this quote from Anne Lamott to be rather funny; as well as true. Any IT professional will tell you that the first thing to try when something isn’t working is to unplug it and re-plug it in.

This quote was on my mind lately given that I took some time away on vacation.

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” — Anne Lamott

There is so much truth in allowing ourselves the time to unplug and reset as well. We would never allow our phones to completely drain, but somehow we expect we can do that to ourselves and still be effective. Which is of course, complete nonsense.

Making time to rest and recharge is one of the best things you can do to increase your productive output.

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Journal Prompt

The best ideas, insights, and creative outputs come when we allow ourselves time and space in our calendar. A busy mind and a full schedule are the enemies of delivering great work.

Which leads to this week’s question to reflect on:

“What one thing can you let go of doing to create more space in your life?”

I encourage you to spend some time reflecting on this question. And then let that thing go, and see how it feels. What were you able to accomplish by letting go of inconsequential busy-work?

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Have an amazing week!

Tim