Who has time? Who has time? But then if we never take time, how can we ever have time?

—The Merovingian, The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

Whether it’s things we want to do, or things we must do, it’s always hard to find time to fit it all into the day. What I’ve discovered in the years since I first heard this dialogue from The Matrix Reloaded is that time is very very rarely something that is just found. We don’t just stumble upon a chunk of time in the middle of our day, in the same way we might discover a stray coin in the bottom of our pocket we’d forgotten about.

Even on the rare occasions that we do unexpectedly find ourselves with a spare hour in the day, it usually makes much more sense to make the most of the downtime in-between other things. We take a moment to breathe, to clear our heads. It’s rare we get a respite like that, so we take it for ourselves.

In fact, that’s exactly what we should be doing more often. We don’t have to wait until we have an unspoken-for block of time to take part of it for something we value. Turns out that even when time is spoken for, we can still take some of it for a different purpose and usually we find a way to still meet all our commitments.

Sure, we could just hope that the things we want our life to consist of will find their way into our lives, but I’d rather not chance it. I’d rather take time every single day for the things that are important to me. That way, even if I lose control of the direction of my life, I know for sure that life will be made of what I want along the way.

When was the last time you took time for something you value?