YOUR TIME IS SACRED

On my 75th birthday, I realized I had been putting off a trip to Ghana for 25 years.

Ghana had been in my spirit all those years. I talked with friends who had already been. I wanted to see the Door of No Return. And I kept saying, “Next year.”

But 75 felt different. I asked myself, “At 75 years old, what am I waiting on?” None of us knows the future. That night, I began planning to visit Ghana the following year.

And I went.

I saw the Door of No Return. I saw people who looked like me. I experienced amazing customer service. I watched children playing and having fun. I also encountered the suffering my ancestors endured.

I thought about people taken from their villages and families, sold to colonizers, and held in horrendous conditions before being forced onto ships where the conditions were even worse. They were brought here and to other places as enslaved people. Their lives were never the same.

They are my ancestors. I come from survivors, and that makes me so damn proud.

I wish I had visited sooner. For 25 years, I had postponed this experience. Going to Ghana brought me a connection to my ancestry that talking about the trip never could.

THIS MOMENT MATTERS. IT’S ALL WE HAVE. SO OWN EACH MOMENT. IT IS SACRED.

That is the mantra I carry. The moment you just lived is gone. You cannot save it for later or get it back.

Your time is sacred because it holds a life you cannot live twice.

You can know that and still find yourself saying, “I know time matters, yet what matters to me keeps getting postponed.” We do not usually decide that what matters can wait forever. We decide it can wait until tomorrow.

The ten reflections below offer a place to begin. Each includes one possible action. Stay with the one that speaks to your life now. There is no need to turn all ten into another list of obligations.

1. There are stories only you can tell. “Someday I’ll tell them” is no guarantee they will be heard.

Reflection: What do the people I love still not know about me because I assume there will be time to tell them?

One action: Share or record one memory you want someone you love to know. Let them hear it in your own words.

2. “I’ll do it later” assumes the opportunity will still be there when you are ready.

Reflection: What have I been postponing because I assume the person, the opportunity, or my own desire will remain available?

One action: Choose one “later” that still matters and make a beginning: the call, the conversation, or the inquiry you keep meaning to make.

3. The people you love are living a chapter of their lives they will never live again. So are you.

Reflection: What do I want to know or experience with someone I love at this particular time in our lives?

One action: Invite someone close to you into an unhurried conversation. Ask about their life now and give their answer your attention.

4. Sometimes you miss a moment while you are still in it, because your attention is already on what comes next.

Reflection: Where am I present in body but too distracted to experience being there?

One action: During one ordinary moment, put aside the screen or task competing for your attention. Stay with the person or experience in front of you.

5. The years you spend waiting to enjoy your life are years of your life.

Reflection: What condition have I placed on enjoying myself, and how long have I been waiting for it to be met?

One action: Make room this week for something you already enjoy. It can be as simple as reading a chapter or sitting outside with your morning coffee.

6. How much of your time goes to saying yes because you would feel guilty saying no?

Reflection: Whose disappointment am I trying to prevent, and what keeps getting postponed in my own life because of it?

One action: Before answering one new request, pause. Consider what saying yes would require you to give up.

7. When someone asks what you enjoy, do you tell them what you used to do?

Reflection: What part of myself have I been speaking about as though she belongs entirely to the past?

One action: Return to something you once loved, or explore something new that interests you. Give yourself space to discover what you enjoy now.

8. You may earn the money back. You cannot earn back the time you spent earning it.

Reflection: Which part of my work is necessary, and where have I stopped considering what another hour costs me?

One action: Look at one upcoming work commitment. If you can change it, set a limit or discuss what can reasonably be done. If you cannot, consider who could help with another responsibility and ask.

9. If rest must wait until everything is done, how long will you keep waiting?

Reflection: What makes rest feel less deserving of my time than the next responsibility?

One action: Let one thing that can safely wait remain unfinished while you rest. Notice what it feels like to let yourself stop.

10. If your life never becomes less busy, what do you refuse to keep postponing?

Reflection: What matters enough that I want it to have a place in the life I am living now?

One action: Put one protected time for it in your calendar. Name what must change, be shared, or be released to make that time possible.

Join me for YOUR TIME IS SACRED

Perhaps one of these reflections brought a person to mind. Perhaps it brought a dream, a need for rest, or a part of yourself you miss. You may already know what matters and still feel guilty giving it your time.

I understand how a desire can stay with you while you keep postponing it. Ghana was in my spirit for 25 years. At 75, I finally asked myself what I was waiting on.

Recognizing what you miss is a beginning. Making room for it may mean examining expectations, reconsidering commitments, or setting a boundary you have struggled to hold. That is the work we will begin together.

In this 60-minute virtual workshop, you will create a 30-day plan around one priority you want to protect, one boundary that supports it, and one realistic change to your weekly rhythm.

I will guide you through questions about what makes your time sacred, where guilt comes from, what you feel you are missing, and what a rhythm that feeds you could feel like.

We will use my PAUSE practice to be present, align with what matters, understand what is getting in the way, sit in silence, and engage intentionally. You will have time to hear yourself before deciding what to do next.

Your participant guide gives you space to capture what you discover and return to your plan after the session. Sharing is optional.

This workshop is created with women in mind. Men are welcome, too.

Give yourself this hour to listen, reconnect, and decide what deserves a place in your life now.