Listen up, folks. Time is passing. RIGHT NOW. As you read this, seconds are ticking away. Minutes become hours, hours become days, days become weeks, weeks become months, months become years, years become decades.
Decades become a lifetime.
You might as well make your time count for something that means something to you 🙂
Not too long ago I was standing in a small cemetery next to the cafeteria of my first college in the East Coast. I had just made arrangements to leave that school. For some reason, that cemetery drew me that day, though I hadn’t been there before. My future was uncertain, and for now, I was in a lot of pain. After denying my feelings for over a year and a half enrolled at a school where I worked my butt off and allowed myself little joy, I was now acutely aware of my state of unhappiness. In the past few days I had finally allowed myself to feel the anxiety and depression my self-neglect wrought. I worried about whether I could hold myself together for my plane flight back to California.
At the same time, I now felt hopeful. I had hit my own personal rock bottom, to be sure. Yet I felt a new sense of clarity. I told myself it was only uphill from there. I would no longer ignore my own truth.
I would figure out a way to be happy again.
That moment was over twenty years ago. Since then, I have done all I can to spend my life doing things I enjoy doing and being around people I enjoy being around.
Case in point: for the second time now, I’m planning to do 365 days of blogging. In a row. Why would I do this? It’s simple. I do it because to me it is a worthwhile way to pass the time, to enrich my life experience.
I feel the same way about investing. I love the idea that by consistently investing a piece of our here-and-now income, we put it to work creating abundance for our future. Over time, the power of compounding should have a positive effect on our wealth. The time is going to pass anyway. Might as well set up a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Nearly fourteen and half years ago I met my wife. We had an instant connection. It soon became clear to both of us how special our relationship was. When I married her, I knew what I had found. Ten and a half year years have passed since our wedding, and I still feel blessed to have made the right choice!
I decided to run a marathon when I knew it was the right time. Sure, I was scared too. But I let myself work up to marathon-readiness gradually over many years of running. And when I was ready, I accomplished something that I am proud of.
Why not prioritize your time to be involved in important things that matter to you, not only the obvious day-to-day priorities but also the “important but not urgent” things that can make the most difference in the long run?
After all, time is going to pass by anyway. What will you do with yours?