Where Does Time Go?
Time flies for sure, whether you are having fun or not. And the crazy thing is, as out of control as it seems, you are the pilot. We all make choices daily regarding how we invest this precious nonrenewable resource.
We make time for what is important to us and nothing is more indicative of core values that how we invest our time. Actions truly do speak louder than words. Many people say they value one thing, but daily habits reveal otherwise. I think of investing time rather than spending it, realizing clearly we reap what we sow. And the concept of ‘killing time’ is something I have never grasped. Why would anyone do that?
Is there anyone who does not want more free time? Yet all time is free, and we don’t get more until we use what we have. We say we don’t have enough time, but we get all there is and we sometimes squander what we have. I keep seeing the calendar at the beginning of Frosty the Snowman; pages floating off slowly, fluttering into the breeze, then flipping off frantically into the whipping wind. Sometimes my life feels like that, especially after a few consecutive weeks of travel. Sometimes I lose track of what day it is. That used to drive me nuts about my mom: how can you not know what day it is, I wondered? What a luxury that must be, I thought. Not so much.
I feel fortunate to realize early in life that every day is precious. Regardless of how fast and furious it flows, we won’t get it back. And whether enjoying an amazing adventure or slaving away at a job, volunteer or paid, we are building our lives, one brick at a time.
Do you work to live or live to work?
How often do you vacation? How much of your leave do you use? Statistics on this are staggering as evidenced in our national epidemic of heart DIS ease. People are running a mile a minute, often in pursuit of an illusion. Like the mirage of an oasis in the desert, we think we see something in the distance, striving for something that may not actually exist. We do what the Dalai Lama observed about humanity: ‘He sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”
Embrace today, live in the moment and cherish every one that you have because no one knows exactly where time goes, or how much of it each of us will get. Invest wisely.
