TUESDAY TAP: Prayer tapping on not enough time to do everything

There is a time for everything,

   and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2     a time to be born and a time to die,

   a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3     a time to kill and a time to heal,

   a time to tear down and a time to build,

4     a time to weep and a time to laugh,

   a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

   a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

6     a time to search and a time to give up,

   a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7     a time to tear and a time to mend,

   a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8     a time to love and a time to hate,

   a time for war and a time for peace.

9 What do workers gain from their toil?--Ecclesiastes 3

Ecclesiastes (aka: The Preacher) did not believe that time was on his side. Nor did he have the feel good vibe of The Byrds hit, Turn, Turn, Turn echoing through his soul. For Ecclesiastes, TIME was at the whim of God (folks in E’s day believed that everything was at the whim of God!) for better or for worse. The differing times and seasons were going to happen no matter what we did, no matter how hard we toiled, so we might as well just hang on and enjoy the ride...well, the parts of the ride that went in our favor. For every other time, there was endurance and complaint.

Still, we try and manage time. We set our watches. Check our calendars. We note the changing seasons and try to get a handle on this elusive fact of life. Often, we are frustrated by our inability to keep up with it. We fall behind and worry that we are running out of time. We fret that there is not enough of it in a day to get everything done that needs to be done...to what end, I am not sure...but that’s what I read on facebook (the Ecclesiastes of our time).

I don’t agree with blaming God for our time issues. It seems to me that there are choices we make and choices others make that cause life to feel frantic.

• The dog runs out of the house as you’re leaving for a meeting.
• Your child announces that she has to use the potty just before you leave for work.
• A classmate has an accident on his way to pick you up for school.
• Somebody get’s a cold and can’t make the performance.

BOOM! You are late. Behind. Trying to catch up with your day. I can’t imagine the Divine watching over us with a stopwatch and shouting, “Mark, Set, GO!” and then taking pleasure as we fail.

So what do we do with our feelings of not being able to get everything done? If we can’t blame God perhaps we can call on God to help us feel better about the time we are living in, no matter how unmanageable it may feel.

Try saying, “I don’t have enough time to get everything done today.” On a scale of 0-10, how true is that statement? Write that number down. It is a Subjective Unit of Distress (SUD) and you can use it after you pray to help identify how God’s spirit has been working through your concern. If you are new to prayer tapping, read this article about the basic recipe for tapping prayer.

When you are ready to pray, please take responsibility for your participation in tapping prayer, and let’s pray:

Karate Chop: I don’t have time for this prayer, God. You know it. I know it. I’m already late and starting to freak out. My SUD is at a …... and there is no way that this is going to help things. I’ll just get farther behind in my schedule. And I KNOW that Todd says, “it’s not God’s fault” but let me tell you, I’m not too sure about that tapper guy right about now. Alas, here goes (just so I can check it off my list of things to do today...)

Even though I don’t have enough time to get everything done today, I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God. Even though this prayer is taking up my precious time, I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God. Even though I’ll never get everything done today, God completely loves me and accepts me.

Top of head: I don’t have enough time.

Eyebrow: I have so much to do.

Outer eye: The clock just keeps ticking.

Under eye: I’ll never get it all done.

Under nose: I just don’t have enough time

Under lip: tick tick tick tick

Collarbone: I can’t keep up with my schedule today.

Underarms: I’m feeling overwhelmed because I don’t have enough time in my day.

Wrists: I have SOOOOO much to do and SOOOOO little time to do it in.

Top of head: Even though I may not get it all done today, I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

Eyebrow: Maybe I could do some of the things on my list.

Outer eye: Maybe I can’t do anything on my list.

Under eye: I wonder which things are most important to do.

Under nose: I have so little time to do the things I need to do.

Under lip: I wonder what would happen if I did less?

Collarbone: The things I have to do are important.

Underarms: God took a day off.

Wrists: The things I have to do must be more important than what God has going on, and I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

Top of head: I have so much to do and I am deeply and totally cared for by God.

Eyebrow: I wonder if I could say “no” to some things today, and save them for tomorrow?

Outer eye: Even if I don’t do everything on my list today, I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

Under eye: I could use some of my time to take care of myself and the people I love and I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

Under nose: I could go shopping for tweezers and I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

Under lip: I can choose to let some things go for today and I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

Collarbone: I may disappoint someone with my choices, and I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

Underarm: Maybe I can forgive myself for the choices I make. Maybe I can forgive those who will be disappointed with my choices.

Wrists: I don’t have enough to time to get everything done today.

Top of head: Even though I don’t have enough time to get everything done today, I am completely loved and deeply accepted by God.

Take a deep breath....and, "thank you God for taking your time to be with me today."

Check your SUD on “I don’t have enough to time to get everything done today.” How true is that statement? Has the number gone up? down? stayed the same? If it is not down to a 0-2, try and identify the issues that are keeping it at a higher number. Write those issues down, and then try and identify a person or event that each issue reminds you of. Give that person or event a SUD, and resume prayer tapping until you experience deep peace around, “I don’t have enough to time to get everything done today.” Chances are, you’ll have just enough time to do this.

Ecclesiastes didn’t take into account the random nature of living. Despite his wisdom, he missed the fact that sometimes life throws us curve balls that are not at all in keeping with God’s desires for us. The great thing is that with God’s help, we can discover time that goes beyond our perception of time, and in the process, experience a Holy peace for ourselves and others around us.

Peace,

todd

ps. Check out Thursday’s Thump when I address “ fear of change” with tapping prayer.

THURSDAY THUMP: Prayer tapping on negative people in your life

9 Passing along, Jesus saw a man at his work collecting taxes. His name was Matthew. Jesus said, “Come along with me.” Matthew stood up and followed him.

10-11 Later when Jesus was eating supper at Matthew’s house with his close followers, a lot of disreputable characters came and joined them. When the Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company, they had a fit, and lit into Jesus’ followers. “What kind of example is this from your Teacher, acting cozy with crooks and riffraff?” --Matthew 9

Sometimes you just can’t get a break...even when you get a break! There is somebody nearby who wants to take the wind out of your sails. Poor Matthew wasn’t the most trusted guy in Bethlehem, but Jesus saw something in him that led him to dine with Matthew. Jesus saw the possibility for Matthew to draw closer to God. Maybe find some healing. Perhaps become a messenger of his Good News. Who knows, he might even write about his experiences with Jesus some day!

But the negative nellies who represented the established religion of the day couldn’t cut Matthew any slack. They couldn’t cut Jesus any slack either, presuming that they understood the situation at hand better than he did. The naysayers had a fit. They lit into Jesus’ followers. They complained, “What kind of example is this from your teacher, acting cozy with crooks and riffraff?”

I’m sure those cruel words did wonders for Matthew’s self esteem, let alone his imagining himself as something better than he already was!

Everybody makes mistakes. Some are real doozies. Everybody has a bad day now and then. We usually don’t need people to remind us of our failures or our humanity. But there they are. On the telephone. In our email. On our news feed. Squawking through Twitter.

You blew it! You’ll never amount to anything. You’re a loser. You’ve always been a failure...you always will be.

If you have a negative person in your life, try and remember a time when their negativity really hurt you. Try and recall how their words or actions created a barrier to your growth as a human being. Assign that person or event a SUD of 0-10. If you don’t know what a SUD is, or you are new to tapping prayer, read my basic recipe by clicking here.

When you are ready to focus God’s healing spirit on the hurt that negative person has brought into your life, please take responsibility for your participation in tapping prayer, and let’s pray!

Karate Chop: Dear God, you know I’m human. You know I make mistakes. You’ve been there for all of them. Hoo boy. It’s a bit embarrassing, and to add insult to injury, I have this negative person in my life who keeps reminding me of how I messed up. I try to make amends. I try to move on. They keep me locked in that moment of humility. They label me “a hopeless case,” and they are getting other people to believe them. I’m starting to believe them. I need your help.

Even though this negative person calls me a hopeless case, I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God. Even though this naysayer continues to hoist my past into full and humiliating view of the public, I am deeply loved and completely accepted by you. Even though this negative person is holding me back, I am completely loved by you...and I am completely accepted by you.

Top of head: I have this negative person in my life.

Eyebrow: This negative person.

Outer eye: This person who labels me a loser...a ne’er do well...riff raff.

Under eye: This person who pushes me down every time I try to get up and move on.

Under nose: This naysayer is really bugging me.

Under lip: This person’s negativity has started to get to me.

Collarbone: People are believing this person’s negative talk about me.

Underarm: I don’t know what to do. I feel trapped.

Wrists: I may be believing some of this negative person’s beliefs about me.

Top of Head: Even though this person is saying negative things about me, I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

Eyebrow: Even if I’m as bad as this person is saying, I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

Outer eye: I’m probably not THAT bad.

Under eye: This negative person is relentless.

Under nose: I don’t know why they are relentless.

Under lip: When I was a child and someone behaved like this s/he was called a “bully.”

Collarbone: This bully is deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

Underarm: When a bully hurt someone when I was a child, I could find an adult to resolve the issue.

Wrists: Perhaps God can resolve this issue through this tapping prayer.

Top of head: I wonder what’s in it for me to continue my relationship with this person? Maybe I could change this relationship.

Eyebrow: Maybe I could put some limits on this relationship.

Outer eye: The negative person might get upset.

Under eye: I’m upset.

Under nose:I can consider letting go of this negativity.

Under lip: I can consider claiming my own truth.

Collarbone: I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

Underarm: I can consider that I am free from this negative person’s remarks and behavior.

Wrists: I have this negative person in my life.

Top or Head: Even though I have this negative person in my life, I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

Take a deep breath...and thank God for being with you as an advocate and healer regarding this bully in your life. Check your SUD and determine if the spirit has shifted any when you think about this naysayer who has been bringing you down. If there are any new issues that came up while you were praying, write those down, give them a SUD, and try prayer tapping on those issues.

When Jesus heard the naysayers complaining about Matthew, he let them know that they had it all wrong. He affirmed that Matthew was on the right track and that it was the religious leaders who had some “‘splaining to do.”

Peace,

todd

ps. Check out next week’s Tuesday Tap: prayer tapping on not having enough time to do everything.