Reflection: Have you ever found yourself hoping against all hope, that a great big honking chunk of open time would drop into your lap?

Well the chance of a bonus hour, day or week presenting itself is slim. And so I continue to be intrigued, when people tell me that their lives could be so much better and happier IF they just had more time – time to exercise, time to eat right, time to take a vacation, time to visit with friends, time to get the jump on a project at work or at home.

I’m starting to believe, that it’s more about the choice than it is about the time. You know we’ve all got the same 24 hours. Nothing new there.

Still, every minute of our day we make choices that are either expeditious or auspicious. Expeditious: dispatched with speed and efficiency. Auspicious: conducive to future success. Expeditious and auspicious aren’t always in conflict, but neither do they always lead to the same outcome. In both cases, consequences follow.

You’re late. So you toss your partner a harried ‘See you later’ over your shoulder instead of pausing to exchange a warm embrace and loving kiss. Time diff: 30 seconds.

You’re hungry. You grab a bag of potato chips and flip the lid off the high cal dip, instead of making the extra effort to dig further into the fridge for that bag of ready-to-eat carrots. Time diff: 1 minute

You’re out of milk. You jump in the car and drive to the corner store to pick up a quart of the white stuff, instead of hopping on your bike and pedaling an easy three blocks to make your purchase. Time diff: 5 minutes.

Time ‘saved’:  6.5 minutes. Opportunity lost: Significant.

Action: Set your spidey sense monitor – everybody has one – to alert you to those feelings of hurriedness and harriedness.

When you realize you’re at a point of decision – a fork in the road – pause to gauge whether your first impulse is an expeditious choice or an auspicious choice, and what the consequences might be.

Don’t let saving time be your only guiding principle if it comes at the cost of creating a better life.

Quote Of The Week: Happiness isn’t something that comes to us; it’s our job to create it in our lives. And the best way to achieve this is to do at least one thing everyday that leads to it. – Liz Wiltzen

Resource Of The Week: What would constitute a wise investment of 20 minutes in your world? Check out Debra Kasowski’s article, What Would the Power of 20 Minutes Do for Your Business or Your Life?

Readers Write: In response to the recent message, Let Go & Let Flow, Pause Blog reader AB commented: Let go and let flow is becoming the theme of my life as I recognize the energy of the universe responding to me and my plans. Even when the flow is opposite to MY plan, I can accept it as being the best for the moment, knowing that in the long term I will see the bigger picture.