I remember the day our son discovered his father’s watch and spent the morning walking around trying to keep the watch on his wrist. He observed the hands on the watch and after a while he noticed they were moving. He began giving me updates on their movement. “Now it’s on the one, Mommy.” “I see it’s on the five now.” And his final observation was full of wisdom. He said, “It doesn’t stop, Mommy. It just keeps moving.” He’s right. At even his young age, he had figured out something many adults fail to ever learn: time doesn’t stop. It just keeps moving.

Time is never for sale. It can’t be bought at the store; it can’t be traded or given away or hoarded for later use. Yet when we use our time wisely, its value is immeasurable.

Each of us are given the same amount of time in a single day. What we do with that time, how we use it, speaks to what we value most. How are you using your time each day? What do value most? Do those two things align with your priorities?

Life’s final moments

A hospice nurse who spends time with patients who are days, hours, minutes away from taking their last breaths is privileged to be present for many of their final moments. These patients, having come to a realization of the precious nature of each second, often reflect back on their lives. And in those moments, the nurse will occasionally ask, “Do you have any regrets?”

The responses she hears the most are:

I wish I had spent more time with the people I love.

I wish I had lived up to my potential.

I wish I let myself be happier.

Are we spending enough time with the people we love? Are we living up to our potential? Are we allowing ourselves to be happy?

Time with the people we love

How to best use the time we’ve been given while on this earth will vary by individuals based on our needs and talents and phases of life, but surely we should place our families and relationships at the top of that list.

It’s been said that in family relationships, love is really spelled T-I-M-E.

We build deep and loving family relationships and friendships by doing simple things together, like family dinner and family traditions, and by just having fun together. Showing up for the bad times as well as the good times creates shared memories and experiences that serve to improve and invest in relationships.

Taking time for each other is the key for harmony in our lives and ensures, hopefully, that at the end of our days, we will not regret having spent too little time with loved ones.

Living up to our potentials

Think of someone who inspires you, a mentor or an expert in your field or simply someone you admire… What if he or she had fallen short of their potential? What if they had wasted time basking in their own self-importance or plagued by self-doubt or listening to the advice of people who didn’t support their dreams?

How would YOUR life be different if that person you admire had failed to become the person they are today? The same goes for you. Other people are counting on you to reach your potential so that they might be inspired and blessed by your story and example. You can do it. Keep going.

Bring on the elephant – a personal story

Here’s a personal story to illustrate this point about the value of time and using it to live up to our potentials.

Many years ago, my husband began a full-time MBA program along with his full-time job. His schedule looked something like this: Monday through Friday go to work from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Class and study sessions from 5:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Saturdays were spent almost entirely at the library for study and group work. And Sundays were spent volunteering in our church congregation and catching up on whatever he had missed during the week. We knew going in that achieving this goal would require many sacrifices, but it was surprising to us both that the vast majority of those sacrifices was time.

On my husband’s first day of school, I wrote the following in my journal:

Today marks the beginning of our journey to achieve an MBA…

This whole experience looms ahead of us like a giant, towering, dusty elephant. It seems big and overwhelming, and the light at the end of the two-year tunnel seems faint and distant. But we are determined to accomplish this goal together, the same way you eat an elephant… one bite at a time. We are also determined to have fun along the way.

While my husband works during the day and attends school at night, I plan to spend my time enrolled in my own university, so to speak. I have a list about a mile long of books to read and hobbies to enjoy and talents to develop.

So… bring on the elephant. And pass us a fork.

When the two years were up and the goal was achieved, we reflected back on the journey. And while I was especially proud of my spouse whose wise use of time resulted in an advanced degree and further knowledge, I was also proud of myself. Not only had I managed the home and the children and expenses almost entirely on my own, I had also wisely used that time while he was in class to develop my own mind and further my own education.

I set a goal to read a certain number of books in the evening instead of watching hours of entertaining but mindless television. When my husband graduated from school, he had achieved a master’s degree and I had read over 160 books, more than two books a week during that time. I’m certain that my sense of accomplishment would not have been so great if, at the end of our two years, I could only have looked back and said I watched 800 hours of TV or surfed the internet for things I can no longer recall. Despite the challenging circumstances of our schedule, I furthered my own education, reached a potential I didn’t know I had, and it felt so, so good.

Let ourselves be happy

Sometimes we mistake busy-ness for happiness. One favorite quotes says:

Stop the glorification of busy.

We must ensure that being busy also equates to being productive. For example, it is wonderful to have the means of instant communication at our fingertips, but let’s be sure that we don’t become compulsive fingertip communicators who give the false impression of being busy and productive.

Our greatest happiness comes as we strive for our potential. It comes as we work toward those things which bring a lasting reward, rather than mindlessly tuning in to countless hours of status updates, Internet farming, and catapulting angry birds at concrete walls. Each of us should take the things which rob us of precious time and determine to be their master, rather than allowing them through their addictive nature to be the master of us.

Time well-spent

True and lasting happiness comes from the relationships we nurture, the work we do toward reaching our potential, and the joy we find along the way. Obtaining this happiness and joy does not have to be difficult. Mostly, it just takes time. Time devoted to things that matter most, to the people who matter most.

Time marches swiftly forward to the tick of the clock. Today would be a good day, while the sands of time continue to fall through the hourglasses of our lives, to review:

Are we spending enough time with the people we love?

Are we living up to our potential?

Are we allowing ourselves to be happy by pursuing the things that matter most?

 

We can think of no greater use of your time than meeting with one of our professional life coaches. Each of them can help you answer the questions above for yourself or become a better steward of the precious time you’ve been given. Find one who is a perfect fit for you with our handy little quiz.