A Rune for Time

I know I am not alone when I say that I don't have enough time in my week to accomplish everything that needs to get done.  Something unexpected always seems to arise at some point and throws me off - the kids get sick, the car breaks down, I get sick.  The list, I'm sure, goes on.  Even when I try to set fewer weekly goals to compensate for these "unexpecteds", time still slips away.

When I realized all of the things I need to get done this week and looked at the "unusuals" (not unexpected, but something that doesn't happen very often) happening this week too, I started to make that age old remark - if only I had more time... But, I caught myself and decided, instead, to ask the Runes to give me a Rune for time.  When they gave me Raido, I asked how to use it effectively.

Raido is the Rune of riding or a carriage and signifies a journey, positive progress from where we are now to where we want to be.  That sounds about right to me.  Now for the second part - how to use it wisely.  What shall we do on this journey to be more effective with our time and accomplish the tasks we set for ourselves?  To answer this, we get Algiz, Tiwaz, and Kenaz.  (As an interesting side note, Raido, Algiz, and Tiwaz showed up together earlier this year, when I asked about A Healing Rune.)

Algiz is the Rune of protection and self-defense.  This Rune is appropriate here, because we are attempting to get ourselves into a better place.  When we don't accomplish the things we set out to do, we get frustrated and frustration can turn to anger.  Worse still, if we don't finish the goals we set in the time we've allotted for them, our tendency is not to say, "Okay, I need to slow down and get this done before I move on to other things."  Instead, we pile more stuff on top of our already uncompleted list until we overwhelm ourselves with a list of incomplete tasks and we start to fee like we are failing.  While on some level that may be true, what we fail to realize is why we are failing.  That is why Algiz is our first. Rune.  It reminds us that we need to take care of ourselves, if we are going to be successful in our endeavors.  So, maybe the Runes are asking us what we are going to do to protect ourselves from situations like this.  In other words, as we embark on this journey to be more effective, the first thing we must do is take care of ourselves.

The warrior Rune, Tiwaz, supports the requirements of Algiz.  To take care of ourselves, we must remember that we are warriors and part of being a good warrior requires some sacrifice.  I know what you're thinking - aren't these opposing Runes?  How can taking care of ourselves require self-sacrifice?  Excellent question!  What is the answer?  Self-sacrifice does not necessarily mean sacrificing our well-being; it means sacrificing some part of our life that we have grown accustomed to, but doesn't really provide us with benefit or well-being.  In essence, Tiwaz is saying look at your life, prioritize it, find balance.  I can use myself as an example here.  I am a writer.  I haven't always viewed myself this way, but it wasn't until I stopped spending time on so many things unrelated to writing that I became a writer.  Now, I have specific time set aside each week for my own writing and much of the work I do for others is writing and editing.  I would like to spend Mondays mornings doing pilates and socializing with my friends, but that is the sacrifice I have made for my writing.  Not only was it the right choice, but once I made it, I felt empowered.  By making it okay for myself to spend Mondays writing instead of hanging out with a few friends, I made it okay for myself to make other choices in the same vein and it feels really good.  Challenge yourself to make a sacrifice to get the time you need for your goals, tasks, and ambitions.

Our final Rune for dealing with our Raido-inspired journey, is Kenaz.  Kenaz is an interesting Rune, because it has two potential meanings, which I believe are both useful in this instance.  First is the idea of a child's illness.  In this case, I would say that childhood is full of challenges.  We are growing and learning and there are plenty of illnesses that can afflict children and make life even more difficult.  As adults, we are better equipped to deal with life's "unexpecteds", due in fact, to the things we've learned and the experiences we had as children.  Perhaps, as we try to find more time for the things we need to do as adults, we can think back to our childhood and remember the things we learned as well as the happiness we felt.  Because childhood (these days) is about having fun and being happy, which we did in spite of everything else happening around and to us.  The other aspect of Kenaz is that of a torch or light, which signifies creativity.  Can we take what we've learned and experienced in our lives and apply it to this?  This would demonstrate the crossover from childhood to adult, applying what we've learned in an effective and creative way.  You may even want to call it wisdom.

For those of us looking for more time, the solution is as easy as we make it.  Our goal is to be happy, to protect ourselves from stress and anger and frustration.  How can we, as warriors, do that?  We must make sacrifices and focus on our priorities, placing everything else on a shelf for another time.  We make those determinations through a combination of life's lessons to this point and our own creativity.  Once this journey is complete, we will find we have the time we need.