I recently listened to a local radio station’s breakfast show. The hosts were talking to a guy who holds the record for a well-known mobile phone app game. He shared how he has been playing this game, year by year, progressing from level to level … and when asked why, he replied:
“It is a wonderful way to kill time.”
Why would you want to kill time?
This comment really bothered me. If you live a life of soulfulness, you would want to multiply your awareness of time and slow it down, and give life to your time.
I definitely don’t want to kill time.
Our time is consumed by busyness, speed, instant messaging, and Instagram reels, but is this really what we want to spend our time on? One of the challenges in my own life is to make my time feel slower. I want to multiply meaning in my time and give life to my time; this became a calling and a career. And no, I still don’t have the answer to how to do this, but oh, I’ll keep on trying.
One notion that helps me in being more deliberate with my time is the Greek philosophical term
Prohairesis, which is particularly central to Stoic philosophy. In 2023, after many years, I reconnected with a university lecturer of mine, Prof Daniel Louw. He told me about an autobiography that he had recently written (at the age of almost 80). The book is titled Daar is meer (There is more) and records his search for authentic Christian spirituality. In 2024, Prof Louw received the Andrew Murray prize for this enormous work of close to 700 pages. While reading Daar is meer, his reference to the Greek word Prohairesis caught my eye and stirred my soul. It describes a way to be more deliberate with my time.
Prohairesis refers to “a kind of invincibility we cultivate”. It is the Stoic idea (Prof Louw referenced
Ryan Holiday) that wants to help us towards a more meaningful life, with wise decision-making, and by having a specific mantra or mindset. Prohairesis wants us to be intentional by asking the following questions in a specific situation:
Is this really the life that I want?
Every time I get upset, do I allow a little bit of life to leave my body?
Are these really the things I want to spend my precious resources on?
I know it is not always simple to make this choice, but there are times when it’s possible to decide whether you want to invest your time in a specific action, conversation, emotional experience, etc.
Prohairesis is a Greek philosophical term meaning faculty of choice, volition, or moral purpose.
Is this the way I want to spend my precious resources at this moment?
Reclaim your ability to choose. When you get angry, when you take out your phone to scroll through another real, or have a conversation with somebody who takes too much of your energy, think about your time. Choose how you want to give life to your time. Ask, is this how I want to spend my precious resources at this moment? Don’t kill time, give life to time! This is what soulfulness is about.
Capture a holy idiom that will help give life to your time. In his book, Professor Louw also referred to the notion of a mantra or what he calls a “holy idiom” – I love this. When you ask, “Is this how I want to spend my resources at this moment?”, capture a holy idiom that will help you give life to
your time. Mine is: Don’t kill time, give life to it!
The notion of Prohairesis made me realise a few simple things.
- We need to be intentional when spending our precious time.
- We can (sometimes) choose to make time more meaningful.
- If we spend two hours each day on social media, it is a whole month out of our year.
- Prohairesis helps us prioritise and choose the life that we want in every moment.
- We should choose a holy idiom to guide our actions.
REFLECT
Use the following questions to reflect and make a few notes:
What is the life that I want?
What are the things I want to spend my precious time and resources on?
How do I again give life to my time?
RESPOND
Write down your “holy idiom” that will direct your mindset for the next few weeks – make it visible, put it on your desk, at your front door, or on your fridge.
Try this:
Next time somebody upsets you, choose how you are going to react. Are you going to waste your precious resources? Are you going to choose to give life to your time? Are you going to choose life?
Go well and remember to give life to your time!
Only 2 more spots are available at my upcoming leader’s retreat on 14/11/2025, called Christmas
in November. If you want to know more, send me an email or book your spot here.
Please share your creative stories or soulful ideas with me at andre@besoulful.co.za.
If you want to schedule a retreat day for a small group, let me know!
Please share your creative stories or soulful ideas with me at andre@besoulful.co.za.