Time is Life

Time. Minutes, hours, days, weeks. Some days time goes far faster than I can and other days seem to drag on forever.

We look forward to vacations, milestones in our lives, events we want to attend. In fact, we at times spend so much time looking forward we forget about the moment we are in. We get so busy that we let things slide by us unnoticed.

People plan out their time. Some have their entire day scheduled minute by minute. And if something should interrupt that schedule, they tend to get upset. Schedules do have a place, but none of them should be so rigid they can’t be rearranged or thrown completely out the window.

We become so involved in working we forget to tend to not only ourselves but our families. Spending our waking hours doing nothing but working cheats everyone. And, as the saying goes, you can’t get back time that was lost.

All the hours spent working mean little compared to what can be lost when work is a priority. Parents lose time that could be better spent being with their children. Taking your children on a vacation and talking about the history of the area you are traveling through can turn that time into a great learning experience. Grandparents telling their grandchildren about when they were growing up and raising a family helps the child know and appreciate their heritage.

When we spend time helping others we teach our children about compassion and kindness. Packing up a picnic lunch and going to the lake, or for a walk, shows children our love for them and how to let go of whatever they are struggling with and just enjoy life. It lets them know how much they are loved and that there will always, always be someone they can turn to when needed.

We often hear we are not guaranteed tomorrow - and we aren’t. We aren’t even guaranteed the next minute. As you grow older you understand more and more how valuable your time is. You learn to adjust what you do with your time. You learn that what you thought was important really isn’t. Hopefully you don’t learn it too late.

For years I heard time is money, money is time. I’d rather hear time is life and life is time. The time we spend with our families and friends is never wasted.

Yes, we need to provide for our families and ourselves by working. But working should not become so important we shut out of our lives time with our families. It would do all of us well to remember that time lost can never be regained. Don’t let the material world take up every minute of your life.