We all know there are 24 hours in a day and 7 days a week, a total of 168 hours. If we break that down it would look a little like this. Most individuals work 40 hours a week and sit in an average of 1 hour of traffic daily (45 hours in total). Our bodies need about 8 hours of sleep every night to function ‘properly’, 40 hours/ week. Now if you account for 3 daily meals around an hour each you’re looking at another 21 hours/ week. All together the basic functions take up about 106 of the 168 hours a week….. That leaves a little over 60 hours a week or 8.5 hours a day to do whatever we need to get done. Sounds like a lot of time when you break it down like that, but everyone knows its just not that easy.

I spent about 4 hours a day in the gym either playing basketball or lifting and my body went through a physical change. I may have looked the same, but I felt like I was in better shape. I was running faster, lifting more, I was even shooting better than I ever had before. When I wasn’t at the gym, I was hanging out with friends or watching tv. What I failed to notice was that I wasn’t taking care of my mind as well as I was taking care of my body. Yeah I was going to a therapist and yeah I was reading my bible (barely), but I wasn’t really growing. Kinda like when you’re floating on your back in a pool. You’re not swimming or getting better, but at least you’re not drowning. The problem is, you can’t float forever….

Out of no where, I began to sink. Things changed with work and it was like someone tied a weight to my body and was pulling me down. I couldn’t rely on my physical ability and my mind was no where near where it should have been. I stopped going to the gym because my body couldn’t handle it and I started to get frustrated. Sometimes things come up in life and completely blind side us. Theres nothing we can do to change what happened but our attitude determines what will happen next. Not going to the gym, barely getting any sleep, my body was falling apart just like my mind already did.

Going through things you never thought you’d go through will only take you places you never thought you’d get to.
-Morgan Harpe Nichols

Sitting in traffic listening to the directions from my GPS it hit me. YOU NEED TO LISTEN. All that time I was focussing on the wrong thing. I thought everything was going well and I was doing what I was supposed to, but I wasn’t. Like J. Cole said “the good news is you came a long way, the bad news is you went the wrong way.” I was so focussed on getting better physically that I neglected my spirit. I didn’t have time to read because I was always at the gym. I wasn’t praying like I knew I should have been, and I was just going through the motions without paying attention.

The main thing is to use your time wisely. With 8.5 hours of down time a day I’m sure you can spare 10-20mins of reading, writing, praying, exercising, or whatever you need to. I have a habit of setting expectations and shutting down if they don’t pan out the way I wanted. I’ve learned to take a step back and ask myself why am I doing whatever it is… Is it helping me both physically and mentally? Treat your body like a temple. Find a balance. You already know what you’re supposed to be doing, stop making excuses and do it.

How are you using your time?