Get your time back!
Californian Representative Maxine Waters further solidified her status as “auntie” by giving the newest proclamation and phrase for life.
This past week social media was set ablaze with the latest anthem and call to action, “reclaiming my time.”
Social media took that phrase and made it viral. It took the political etiquette and turned it into a dogma. Various social media users began to take the phrase and apply it to comedic yet realistic scenarios.
The quote came to be during a committee hearing at the White House where Waters confronted United States Secretary of the Treasury, Steve Mnuchin, over his non responsive and evasive behavior regarding a letter about Donald Trump’s ties to Russian banks. Mnuchin appeared to stall Waters, which prompted “Auntie Maxine” to give her latest quote.
Protocol in the House of Representatives allows for one to reclaim his/her time when one representative is being elusive. Waters kept repeating the chant/phrase “reclaiming my time” to get Mnuchin to answer the question.
Waters is renowned for being a representative in politics, however, for today’s youth, she has gained popularity for being anti-Trump, maternal and bold. Waters’ personality resonates within people of color, specifically Black people, due to her rhetoric and tone reminiscent of one’s “auntie.”
“Reclaiming my time” has since become a call to action for one to self-reflect on their own worth and time to configure the matters that are important.
Taking back one’s time is more than a just a phrase, it is a shift for and of power. Often times, we lose ourselves in the world trying to cater, soothe, and fix others. Sometimes, we give our devotion to tangible or intangible aspects of life, which in result chips away at our well-being.
Pouring oneself to unrequited or unequal forms of life eventually will leave one empty. Our time is our energy and the things we put our energy towards propels or hinders us. Reclaiming one’s time is a mantra of taking back order in life.
Understanding the needs and desires to restore the balance dwell within. Before you can take back the handles of life, you must internally recapture yourself. “How you gon win when you ain’t right within,” Lauryn Hill.
However, the lost and regaining of one’s time is essential for growth. Some of greatest strides forward were in the result of a pushback. The give and take of peace and pain give depth and dimension to sharpen and build character.
So, when you have lost and then regained your time, you have essentially created more layers to the core of yourself. Lessons, morality, and wisdom are gifts when one reclaims his or her time.
Reclaiming your time does not mean shutting yourself out and selfishly closing yourself off, it means to intelligently select and dictate where your time is spent and when to rescind it.
The harsh reality is our time is going to be taken for granted and misused. However, there is glory knowing we all have the ability to find our worth and recover what is rightfully ours. “Reclaiming my time! Reclaiming my time.”
