What Are You Allowing Time to Tell You?

What if our assumptions about time are quietly shaping what we believe is still possible?

This week, I had the privilege of chatting with two different groups of people — some young adults and others over 50 — and something interesting came out of our conversations around time.

Despite being at very different stages of life, I noticed that time was influencing how they thought about their future.

For some, there was a feeling that they should be further ahead by now. Certain things hadn't happened when they had expected them to. Mistakes had been made, opportunities had been missed, and they were beginning to wonder whether it was too late to do some of the things they had once hoped to do.

For others, the thinking was slightly different. It was more about whether, at this stage of life, they should still be dreaming about new things, starting again, learning, creating or pursuing something they hadn't yet done.

The conversations reflected very different stages of life, but I found myself wondering whether the question underneath it all was actually the same:

What are we allowing time to tell us about what is still possible in our lives?

The Stories We Tell Ourselves About Time

These conversations stood out to me because I had just finished reading The Measure, a novel that explores what happens when people discovered how long they had to live.

Of course, we don't know the measure of our own lives. None of us knows exactly how much time we have. Yet, we sometimes live as if we do.

We create timelines for ourselves. We decide where we think we would be by a certain age. We look at what other people have achieved and wonder why we aren't there yet. Or we reach a particular stage of life and begin to question whether we should still be thinking about new dreams at all.

I've caught myself thinking about this too.

I've spoken a lot recently about enjoying life, being present and not feeling that I always have to chase the next thing. I still believe that deeply.

But I've also begun to realise that there is a difference between not chasing life and becoming laid-back about the things that still matter to me.

I can enjoy where I am and still think about where I want to go.

Rest and still dream.

Be present and still have plans.

Maybe I don't need to pursue things with the same urgency I once did. Perhaps I can pursue them with ease, wisdom and enjoyment. But I still want to pursue them.

Pause & Reflect

What has time been saying to you.

Perhaps it has been saying, You should have done this by now.

Maybe it's, You missed your opportunity.

Or perhaps, Why start now?

I wonder how many possibilities we quietly dismiss because of those thoughts.

There genuinely may be things that haven't happened as we hoped or decisions we wish we had made differently and opportunities we didn't make the best of.

But does that mean we stop imagining what could happen next?

I'm beginning to think that sometimes it isn't time itself that stops us. It's what we have come to believe about time.

What I'm Learning

I'm learning that I don't want time to become either something I race against or something I use as a reason to stop dreaming.

I don't want to rush through life trying to fit everything in because I am afraid time is running out. But I also don't want to believe that, as time goes on, there is less for me to look forward to, pursue or accomplish.

We can continue dreaming without rushing, growing without constantly needing to prove ourselves, start something new without needing to know whether we will see every part of the outcome.

And we can allow our dreams to change as we change.

What we want from life at one stage may look very different at another. That doesn't necessarily mean we've given up. Sometimes it simply means we've grown.

Purpose can remain while the way we live it evolves.

And perhaps starting something later than we thought we would doesn't mean we're starting with nothing. We bring with us what life has taught us — our experience, wisdom, mistakes, relationships and resilience. We may be starting with experience and understanding we simply didn't have before.

This has made me think differently about my future.

My future still deserves my imagination.

Not because I know how much time I have, but because I am still here.

And while I am here, I want to remain open to what life can still hold.

A Small Step This Week

Give yourself permission to imagine again.

Think about something you would still love to learn, experience, create, pursue or contribute.

Don't immediately ask whether you have enough time or whether you should have done it already.

Just ask:

What would I still love to explore if I stopped allowing time to make the decision for me?

You don't have to act on everything. Sometimes the first step is simply allowing yourself to see possibility again.

Reflection Question

What have I quietly decided is no longer possible because of what I believe about time?

Faith Reflection

As I reflected on this, I kept coming back to Psalm 92 and the words:

“They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green.”

There is something about the word still that speaks to me.

Still fruitful.

Still growing.

Still having something to give.

It doesn't mean every season of life will look the same. It shouldn't. Our pace may change. Our priorities may change. The way we live our purpose may change.

But change doesn't have to mean that possibilities have ended.

I find that encouraging because it reminds me that fruitfulness doesn't have an expiry date  we get to decide for ourselves.

We don't know the measure of our lives, and perhaps that's not something we need to know.

What we can decide is how we want to live the time we have.

A Prayer for You

Lord, I pray for the person reading this today.

Where they feel they should be further ahead, help them release the pressure of comparing their life with someone else's timeline.

Where disappointment, mistakes or missed opportunities have caused them to believe it is too late, help them to see what may still be possible.

And where they have quietly stopped dreaming, remind them that there can still be more to learn, more to experience, more to give and more fruit to bear.

Give them wisdom for the season they are in and courage for whatever comes next.

Help them to enjoy the life they are living without becoming afraid to imagine the life that may still be ahead.

Amen.

Confidence Mantra

I will not allow time to make my future smaller. I remain open to possibilities, growth and what may still be ahead.

A Gentle Invitation

Maybe there is something you have stopped dreaming about.

Not because you no longer want it, but because somewhere along the way you decided that perhaps its time had passed.

What if you allowed yourself to look at it again?

Not with pressure to make it happen, or with regret about what you should have done.

Just with openness to what might still be possible.

We don't know how much time we have.

But while we are here, I believe we can keep dreaming, keep growing and keep bearing fruit.

Your future still deserves your imagination.

You are born to shine.

I. Arise & Shine | iarisenshine.com