In our daily activities, it’s easy to forget that life isn’t about what happens to us at work. It’s not about the latest current event or news article. It’s not about binge watching the latest and greatest television series. It’s not about accumulating ‘likes’ on Facebook, ‘followers’ on Twitter, or wishing we had the life of an ‘influencer’ on Instagram.
When you talk to people who are nearing the end of their lives, they don’t wish they had spent more time on social media and the internet. They don’t wish they had worked more. They don’t wish they had spent more time binge watching television shows. They don’t wish they owned more stuff.
So what do they wish for?
A common response is what author Amy Krouse penned before she passed away:
I want more time with Jason [her husband]. I want more time with my children. I want more time sipping martinis at the Green Mill Jazz Club on Thursday nights.
In other words, what they wish for is time. Time is the one resource that we all get the same amount of while we’re alive. We only get the present moment. and we can only spend it. We can’t buy more of it. We can’t store it away. We can’t save it. If each minute of the day were worth one dollar, we’re given $1,440 to spend every day. At the end of the day it’s gone. What we have to show for it is what we chose to do with it.
When we get caught up in past memories or worry about an imagined future, we are not spending our time wisely. When we get caught up in the messages we are bombarded with by media outlets, brands, social networks, and the internet, we are allowing others to dictate how our time is spent. It’s up to us to make good choices. It’s up to us to spend our time wisely. It’s up to us to spend it building deeper, more meaningful relationships with our family and friends, creating memories around shared experiences, learning new skills, experiencing nature, or effecting positive change in the world around us.
Whether we want to admit it or not, the amount of time we’ve been granted in our lives is short. The value of our time is what we choose to do with it now. We only get one chance to live the present moment. When we use that time wisely, it is an investment in our future. It opens up opportunities and allows us to make choices. It’s a much better position to be in rather than letting others dictate to us what are choices are and how we should live.
Time is the most valuable resource each of us own. The question is, how will you choose to spend yours?