Time is a resource that all of us are freely given. The irony of time, however, is that there is never enough of it, but each of us has access to all that is available, every day of our lives. Try as we might, we cannot manufacture any more of it and once we use it, it is gone forever, never to be recreated. Time truly is our most precious resource.
Since we cannot make any more time from some secret recipe our mother given to us when we were young, we are left with the only logical course of action available to us. To get the most out of our time we need to spend it wisely, recognizing how priceless this gift truly is. Every day, our supply of time is dwindling and tomorrow, there will be exactly 24 hours less of it for us to use than we had at this very time yesterday.
Since that time is also wasting away while you read this, let’s get going and begin using our time in the fashion we want it to be spent. First, understand that most of what you do with your time today will not be the best use of it. How can this be? The answer lies in the fact that we will be constantly reacting to the needs, demands, priorities and agendas of other people. Our parents require us to do certain things. Our boss has ideas about what we should be spending our minutes on. Our spouse or significant other has a list or plan for our day. Our children or pets make demands that are frequently loud and often quite demanding. Our friends and colleagues need our input and customers are always knocking down the doors as we speak. Where is the “me” time? Where is the time that is truly mine?
That answer is easy, but it is not really simple. That “me time” is right where the rest of our time resides….totally within our individual control. Believe it or not, in the United States of America, at least, we really do control what we do with our days. Unless we are incarcerated, residing in a total care facility or other lodging that we may or may not have selected for ourselves, our days belong to us. Sick of the unreasonable demands from your boss? You can always quit or become self-employed. Tired of constantly adhering to the agenda of your significant other or spouse? You can certainly end the relationship and begin anew. Angered by the constant demands of your closest friends? Find new ones. You really are in control.
So, you ask, is it really that simple? Then why do most people never make those changes. The answer, I am afraid, is also part of the problem. Most people stay in damaging, distressing or complicated relationships because they have become comfortable with those relationships and the fear of change is so great, that they would rather remain in a troubled state than take the chance on crafting a new one. Old habits truly do die-hard and so, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, we remain a slave to the will of others; when, in fact, we are actually free to choose our own course of action. The chains are truly shackles of our own creation.
Time does not care who chooses the agenda. Time really does not care if you go to work today or decide to call in sick. Time pays no attention to your gripes or complaints about what you are doing after work or how you are spending your weekend. Time simply marches on. That is what time does to paraphrase Forest Gump’s mother. The earth turns, the sun comes up and another day has been spent and added to the “accomplished.” pile of our lives. Tomorrow begins and slowly, surely, without our even noticing it, another year slips silently away.
Make the decision now, today, that you will be in control of your life. Do not wait for someone else to set your agenda, choose it yourself. Begin now to march toward your own goals, no matter how strange or impossible they seem to be right now. Whether you need more training, additional information, more money or simply more time to figure it all out, begin taking control of your actions now.
No one else can possibly understand exactly what makes you happy or what you want to do each and every day of your life. No other human being should tell you that they know you better than you know yourself. Certainly they can provide feedback or observations, but you are the person who lives inside that body and only you know what makes you really tick. Only you understand those special dreams that simply have to be let out. Only you can determine the exact path you must take. Only you have exactly the right mixture of skills, talents and abilities to make your unique and special contribution to the world. Only you know the real you.
So begin this second to use your time wisely. 1,440 minutes are yours to spend each and every day. 86,400 seconds to squander, invest or fritter away. Every day, we are each given all the time that is available, no more, no less. We cannot create any additional time, no matter how hard we try. All that remains is how we use that very precious gift of time. By using our time, we are actually living our lives. Why not use it doing exactly what we love to do, rather than wasting another precious second of it? I won’t waste anymore of yours. Get started living your very unique and certainly special life. Carpe Diem!