The concept of time has always fascinated me. Time is the one thing that we can never refill, never replace, and never get back. Once it is gone, it is gone.

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When we are young we wish for time to hurry up so we can turn double digits, get our driver's license, or turn 21. Significant dates are played to hurry up and get here. Graduations, Christmas mounting, weddings, vacations, births; they are all moments that we want to rush to get to, and then they are over, we wish time away for the next thing.

Until the day comes when we are out of time. In the end, the one wish we all have is a wish for more time. It's ironic how willing we are to waste time or give our individual precious time away as if it's a duty, and not a thing that is dear to us. We don't appreciate the time we have been giving, not as much as we should.

How did this happen? I get the wanting to grow up to do the fun things in life, part, or rushing to the upcoming happy moments of our lives, part, But, how did we become a society of people who don't respect others' time and give up our own time too easily?

Some of my time, I can control, some of my time, I can't. My personal time is something that I am in charge of. I chose what I do at that time. But, I haven't used that wisely either. I basically gave all my time to others and hardly any to myself. It's something I learned from my mother. Once she became a wife and mother, she also took little if any time for herself. I used to point it out to her and yet, now, I'm doing the same thing. Why does it feel so wrong to me to take time for ME?

At work, many times, it is as if our time is not valued. Workdays are much longer than they used to be and most salaried employees have no cap on the amount of time they are asked to work in a given day.

Although a full-time work week is supposed to total 40 hours, according to The Washington Post, a full-time job is now an average of 47 hours a week. That is almost a full day added to the workweek. In the study, fifty percent of full-time workers reported working more than that. With, eighteen percent of those surveyed reporting to work more than 60 hours a week. My husband knows someone who works 80 hours a week. THAT blows my mind.

Considering the growing time demands at the workplace and demands on your time from family and friends, where is any time for you? I wish I knew the answer. I wish I knew how to limit what other people and my job expect of me. But, I don't.

As the time demands keep piling up and the 24 hours in a day stay the same, it gets harder and harder to carve out some of the days for quality time for you and quality time for the things that matter to you.

You must do it, though. And, by YOU, I'm really talking to myself. I've been very stressed out lately and feeling like all I do is work. It's like it never ends and sometimes I just feel numb. But, to be my best at work, at home and for my health, I have to take the time I need.

Psychology Today puts it like this,

Taking time for yourself gives <b>your brain a chance to reboot</b>, improves concentration, increases productivity, helps you discover (or rediscover) your own voice, gives you a chance to think deeply, and helps you problem-solve more effectively.

How did we get to the point where it ever seemed ok to give up our free time? I'm not sure, but it's time we need to take back. Stop losing it on things that don't matter.

Stand up for yourself. Know your worth. Take care of your health. Be kind to yourself and enjoy your life. Remember how valuable time is, and stop giving it up so freely. You and me, both.

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