“You make time for the things you love.” A graduate school professor of mine shared those words of wisdom with me one particularly busy semester when I felt like I had no time for anything but school. It seemed like a trite, clichéd statement at the time. However, he could not have been more right. Years later I have to remind myself of this quote about fifteen times a day.
I am the mom of a toddler, a wife, a waitress, a blogger, a friend, a dog owner, a horse owner, and oh yeah, an eventer, and that’s just the short list. Juggling time is what I do. Sometimes I am moving so fast I literally feel like I might run into myself in the hallway on the way to car from the bathroom. It’s a funny image, but one that pops into my mind way too often.
On the days when I am feeling particularly stressed out, over-worked, definitely over scheduled, lacking sleep and underpaid, I have to stop (but only for second, any more than that would be too long) and remind myself of why I do what I do. Because we make time for what we love. And I do love it. All of it.
It’s probably a no-brainer that I love my husband, and I love my son. My job? Well … let’s just say it’s a necessary evil. I love writing, and I definitely love my fur babies, my friends and my horse. So…do I love eventing? You are kidding, right? I am blogging for “Eventing Nation,” right? Anyone who has survived in this sport for any length of time loves it. (Or they’re crazy. Or both. I think I might be both.) But I do love it. And I make time for it.
One of my best friends has a daughter who is a cellist. Her daughter is a senior in high school this year and is hoping to pursue playing the cello as a career. I asked my friend one afternoon how many hours a day her daughter practices. She practices her cello up to four hours a day.
My mind was completely blown. These are hours she spends on her cello in addition to time at school, homework, volunteering, boyfriend, etc… I could not imagine how she does that. Until I remembered my professor’s quote, “You make time for the things you love.” Suddenly it was crystal clear. My friend’s daughter loves the cello.
I love eventing. On the days when getting out of bed at 5:30 to go ride seems impossible; or I’m trying to squeeze a 30 minute ride between work and picking my son up from daycare; or a non-horse person wonders why I am spending all those extra hours at the barn instead of sleeping, all I have to do is look into the eyes of my big, bay partner and remember,
“We make time for what we love.”
