Put more time in your day. Really?

A TV ad for a cleaning product that shall remain nameless told me tonight that if I used their wiping cloths, I could 'put more time into my day'.

The contented looking mother happily wiped down her (already spotless) kitchen bench with the aforesaid cloth while her contented, happy children went into sudden bursts of slow motion, demonstrating beyond reasonable doubt that it really is possible to slow your life down and be happier and that this can actually be achieved by using the correct cleaning cloths.

Lies. And on so many levels.

We have enough time. We really do. It's a lie to believe that we need more. 

What we don't have is thankfulness. What we don't have is gratitude. What we don't have is an appreciation of the tiny moments, the sunlit seconds, the wind in our hair.

In the ad, the focus was on removing the problems. Getting rid of the actual dirt and germs makes the metaphorical dirt and germs go away as well. And that's when you have more time for the good stuff, it tells us.

But it doesn't work like that. Focus on the problems and all you see is the problems. The dirt and germs will always be there. But it's when we give thanks for the kitchen itself, and the children and the smiles and the light and the running water and the way our hands move and our brains think and our hearts beat, that's when time slows down and we see what we really do have.

Thankfulness. Gratitude. Eucharisteo. Thankfulness precedes the miracle says Ann Voskamp in her book, 1000 Gifts.  That's how you 'get more'. You see what it is you already have.