Wrestling time down is the only way to slow it. Time is elusive and can get away from us if we allow it. Therefore, we must cling to every second, capture every minute, and hold on to every hour. It’s a wrestling match worthy of competing in.
Wrestling Time Down
My son, Grant, just finished up his summer wrestling season with his club team. Headed into his senior season, this was his last opportunity to perfect his craft.
His final summer tournament was Saturday in McDonough, Georgia, which is about an hour and fifteen minutes south of where we live in Acworth, Georgia.
Directionally, this would put us closer to Florida. Earlier in the week, I presented him with an idea. What if we “road tripped it” to the beach afterwards and did a little surf fishing? No reservations, no plans. Just figure it out as we go.
Of course, his answer was “Sure!”
Friday night, we loaded the truck with our camping equipment, fishing gear, and the necessary change of clothes. Still with no plan of where we were going.
We woke at 5:00 a.m. on Saturday to get him to his tournament. Wrestling finished around 2:30 p.m., we jumped into the truck and headed towards Florida. Here is how we wrestled time for the next forty-four hours:
The Destination
Grant’s wrestling destination is the Top of the Podium in February. It has and will continue to take a tremendous amount of time to get to that destination.
As for our destination…while I drove, Grant searched for a campground. Earlier in the day, I found a spot that had availability about one and a half hours north of both St. George Island and Panama City Beach. I figured we could get there, then figure out our plan for Sunday.
Well…that camping spot was no longer available! Neither were any other available locations. We had to pick a destination, so we chose St. George Island. It was about a five-and-a-half-hour drive, plenty of time to figure out a plan!
In life and leadership, the destination matters in how we spend our time. The places we go are important, but it’s those that we spend the time with that counts. Wrestling time down is better with those that matter.
Be Efficient
Grant is an efficient wrestler. His offensive style allows him to rack up points over a six-minute match. Every second matters.
Now with a destination selected, we had to be efficient with our time. In order to make the most of it, we needed to get to the State Park, where we planned to fish, by 8:00 p.m. Making it before they closed was crucial, it would allow us to get a special pass to be in the park after hours (making a great place to sleep in a truck overnight for two people without a plan).
The GPS had us arriving at 8:10 p.m. For the record, I’m a professional at beating the GPS! Cutting off ten minutes was not going to be a problem! What was problematic, he needed to eat, and I needed to top off with gas. We strategized on how to make the most efficient use of our time.
We found a gas station next to a Burger King. I filled up, he ran over and got the food. The restaurant wasn’t as efficient as we were, setting us further back in time. From there, every traffic light mattered, every turn mattered, and there was no room for error!
We arrived just before the State Park closed!
In life and leadership, we have very little time to waste. The busyness of our worlds requires us to be efficient with our time. Efficiently wrestle time down.
Slow It Down
While his style is to attack and to attack frequently, there are big matches where he must slow things down.
I often tell kids that I coach (Grant included), that when things get chaotic, slow it down. It’s the only way to keep things from getting too fast and out of control.
We hurried to get there, now it was time to slow things down. With our pass in hand, we went back and caught the sun setting over Apalachicola Bay. It’s one of the most spectacular ones you will ever see.
We backed the truck up to the edge of the water and enjoyed. Very little talking, just in simple awe of God’s creation. We began to wrestle time down.
In life and leadership, our worlds move fast. Chaos and craziness enter at a moment’s notice. Whenever things feel like time is moving too fast, wrestle it down.
Conclusion
As we drove back to the campsite on that final night, I shared with Grant my perspective on time. We had only been on the island for 26 hours and it felt like days. It’s amazing how that can happen when we are intentional in how we spend time and who we spend it with.
Grant added a bonus lesson. He said that time slows down when you have variety.
We arrived at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday and left on Monday at 5:00 a.m. In thirty-two hours we experienced two majestic sunsets, one of the craziest starlit skies I had ever seen, severe storms, post storm rainbows, and spectacular cloud formations. We fished, took naps on the beach, went for walks, sat in silence on the beach for hours, we laughed, showered in our bathing suits at the public beach, listened to good music, saved a turtle from getting run over, slept in the truck, and ate a lot of great food.
This extemporaneous adventure was made possible by our ability to wrestle time down. Give it try sometime.
