How time flies, doesn’t it? Here I am again. For some, it might feel like ages have passed, and for others, you’re probably thinking, “Oh no, here she comes again, whining about her life.” Hahaha, well, yes, here I am once more. In my last post, I talked about guilt, and today, I don’t feel guilty for being here again. Hahaha (see, I’m adding some laughs even though these chronicles haven’t turned out funny yet—everything in its time). You guessed it, today’s chronicle is about time. And why time, Nuria? I don’t get it. Well, keep reading, folks…

One of my favorite movies is In Time, where people are born with a limited amount of time, and their wealth is measured by it. At certain moments in life, we’ve begged for time to stop, and at others, we’ve pleaded for it to fast-forward. Time is what it is—we can’t cheat it, buy it (like in the movie), or control it. We can only wait for it to pass and decide how to spend every single second we have (without knowing how much we have left in total). It all feels like the universe’s joke… I’m sure the universe is up there saying, “Let’s see what these folks do with the time they’ve been given without knowing how much they’ve got.” Hahaha (Mr. or Mrs. Universe is definitely laughing at us).

Now that we understand what time is and that each of us has our own, we also need to understand that everyone does what they want with their time, because it’s their time. And Nuria, what does time have to do with the caregiver chronicles? Good question, readers. Today, I just wanted to explain (well, I don’t have to, but I’d rather bring it to light) that I, like all of you, have 24 hours in a day. Within those 24 hours, I have things to do (just like everyone else). So far, so good, right? Well, within those hours comes sleep (and everyone chooses their schedule), and for the rest of the hours, we must decide what to do or what we can do considering how quickly the seconds tick by.

Okay, okay, I’m getting to the point I want to make. Even though I wake up early—at 7 a.m. (yeah, yeah, I could wake up earlier, but since I often can’t fall asleep until 2 a.m., I think it’s fine)—I don’t have enough time for everything I want to do. I have to work, clean and organize my house, take care of my mom, cook meals, try to exercise, handle paperwork and medical matters… you know, the usual. The only difference—and here’s the kicker—is that some people have partners, kids, or others who help them with all those things, or they have part-time jobs, etc. I’m on my own (well, my kids help, but ugh, that’s a topic for another post). In other words, I have to do almost everything by myself. People who have help simply have more time—it’s as simple as that. They have more time for themselves. And now we’ve arrived at my point. When my friends don’t understand why I don’t go out more, relax by the pool, etc., it’s not because I don’t want to—it’s because I don’t have much time, and I have responsibilities.

I can already hear you in my head: “Why don’t your kids help more?” “Why don’t you wake up earlier?” “Why don’t you hire someone to help?” “You’re going to burn out.” Thanks so much for your advice, but I’m happy. Just because I don’t go out every day for fun or hang out by the pool to relax doesn’t mean I’m not doing well. Quite the opposite—I’m choosing how to spend my time. I understand this is just a phase of my life. I live day by day, I enjoy all the moments, and I’m mindful of everything. Writing this for you at 1 a.m. feels like the best use of my time in the world.

Let me repeat: everyone gets to choose how they spend their time, and there’s no need to do what others are doing. Each of you should do what makes you happy without letting anyone make you feel guilty (go read the guilt chronicle—I’m not getting into that again). If cleaning makes you happy, then clean. If watching TV makes you happy, then watch TV. If going out with your friends makes you happy, then go out. I think you get it. No one is living your life but you. As long as you’re not harming yourself or others, everything’s fine. So far, no one has asked me, “Nuria, are you happy?” They just assume I’m not because of my situation, maybe because they wouldn’t be happy in my shoes.

TIME IS LIFE. CHOOSE WISELY WHAT YOU WANT TO DO WITHOUT LETTING ANYONE TELL YOU OTHERWISE!