Living a Life That Matters

Time.

We have all been give a specific allotment of time. There are no guarantees in life that you will get any more than you were already promised and nothing you can do will get you back the time you have already spent. Time, therefore, should be the most precious thing we have. Once it's gone, it's gone. There is no getting it back. It's like giving someone a dollar. They can spend it on anything they like, but once it's spent they can get it back, exchange it or get more. That's all we are gifted with. So why do we waste time?

It's been something that has been on my mind lately. Why? I have no clue. Maybe I am nearing the end of mine or maybe during the end of the year like most of us, I found myself reflecting on the 48 years I have had so far. Tomorrow is never guaranteed and all I know is that each second I can draw a breath, I am still alive and I still have purpose. I believe once I fulfill what God has destined me for, my time here will end.

Sorry, didn't mean to make you depressed just reading my thoughts but I've been reading a lot of books lately dealing with how people chose to spend their time. There are those people simply wishing they had more time in the day or when reflecting on the end of their life, take an account and simply wish they had time to change things, to go back and make a difference. So again the question perplexes my deepest thoughts, why do we waste it?

I personally think is because we think we will wake up tomorrow and we can always begin again then. The procrastinator rises his ugly head. Yet when people are given a known deadline, why do their days change? Why do they do things differently than we do? Is it because they know when life may end and we don't? Should that make a difference in how we view what we will do?

Most people spend their time, pursuing a better life for themselves and their family. In doing so, they may work farther from home, spend more hours at the office, and even sacrifice time away from their family and friends just to have more. Is there a finish line in sight? When is enough truly enough? When people are debt free? The bills are easier to manage? You have the dream house? Dream car? Able to afford a dream vacation?

But in the end, isn't there a cost being calculated you don't see. The precious cost of time. We spend so much time in a job we literally hate, making no difference in the job to make things better for the people we work with or that benefits our communities. It's almost a dismal way of looking at things. Yet how many of us have goals to accomplish and I'm not taking a "To Do List" of items that need to be done and checked off, but simply things that if you were to die in the next 24 hours you would stop doing or start doing?

Why are we waiting to do them?

I posed the question to my family and asked what they wanted to accomplish at the end of 2013, not that we know if any of us will make it that far, but I think goals are important. They provide direction and help us achieve what we want to set out to do. I know my husband and I talked about serving others more than ourselves this year and we need to put plans in place that follow that mindset. We talked about making more time for family and less about stuff and work. Do you have any goals for 2013 you want to see accomplished?

Do you have time in your schedule for fun anymore or are you simply too busy?

See I think we are missing the bigger picture, what we do with our time will be the one question, God will ask all of us. What did you do with the time I gave you? Did you make the world a better place because you were in it, or were you simply too busy trying to get ahead? Fun stuff to consider right?

I ask you to take a few moments and really think about what time means to you. How much do you value it? What will you do with the time you have left? Considering how valuable it truly is, you might question how you spend it or who you spend it with. For me, I truly thank those who give their time to me. It's like money spent, once its given, it can't be taken back and I need to value that more than I ever did before. Tomorrow isn't guaranteed and God will be waiting for all of us wanting to know what we did with the time He gave all of us. Don't let it be a life looked back on when you are dying with regret, let it instead be something you reflect on with a smile and many, many fond memories and the legacy that you will leave long after you have breathed your last in the lives of the people you touched. Let it be a better place because YOU were in it!