When I became serious about writing, I pretty much stopped watching TV. I had new priorities for my time, and most visual entertainment didn’t make the cut. Though I sometimes make an effort to keep up with a show or watch a movie, I usually spend less than 2 hours per week watching this medium.

This completely changes when the Olympics roll around. The Olympics are one of my favorite things, and I have some fun and meaningful traditions that I’ve built around them. As a teacher, the Summer Olympics are easier to watch because I don’t have to get up and go to work in the morning, so I have a little more freedom to stay up late watching coverage. The Winter Olympics? Those really impinge upon my bedtime routine. In order to watch and still be a clear-headed, functioning adult the next day, I have to take measures to insure I get enough sleep.

For example, I usually shower right before bed, but during the Winter Olympics I shower before dinner so I can collapse into bed as soon as the nightly coverage concludes. While I normally assign time in the evening to work on my manuscript, I made sure to prioritize that in the afternoon so I could continue my writing streak and still enjoy watching the Games. There were a few other modifications I made to my routine—changes to allowed me to keep up with my responsibilities (mostly, anyway! 🙃) as well as accommodate this huge addition to my life.

Now I see that I do have time for TV if I deem it important enough. Does this mean that since the Olympics are over I’ll keep the changes to my schedule in order to continuing watching TV every night? Well, I might give myself grace for watching a little more every now and then, but overall I’m relieved to go back to my normal routine.

However, I see this principle could carry over into other areas of my life. For example, I’ve been wanting to spend more time in prayer, and specifically praying for others. Since the Olympics wrapped up, I have deliberately set aside time each evening to sit at Jesus’ feet and bring the requests of my friends and loved ones to Him. This is important to me, and I want this change to remain.

Is there anything in your heart or life that you long to spend more time doing? Everything requires time, which we have in limited supply. Change also requires emotional energy, and sometimes we’re too depleted to even begin. I’ve certainly been there. It’s easier to prioritize for fun things like the Olympics, but what about our dreams? There’s real life and our own feelings of inadequacy and a host of other things that stand in our way. And when we focus on spiritual things, we’ll likely face warfare and distractions.

If making time for things is too exhausting for you today, or responsibilities make it impossible to do this as much as you’d like, I get it. I hope the time comes again for you to be able to prioritize things you want to do. For the rest of us, it’s true: we make time for what we deem important. This kind of change begins with want to. And if there’s something that’s important to you, I pray you’ll be able to make time to follow through. It’s worth the effort and sacrifice. Let’s work on choosing those important things one moment at a time.