It's Time
Everywhere you look, people are always running out of something. Sometimes it's tangible, like food, water, gasoline, or toilet paper. Sometimes it's intangible, like excuses, luck, or patience. And sometimes, people run out of their two most valuable resources, ones that should never get wasted: time and money. But is one of the two more important than the other?
There's the cliche "time is money," and there is truth to that. We value our time, especially since time is a finite resource. If we're spending our time doing Activity A, we're not spending our time doing Activities B-Z. Naturally, people get compensated by employers for their time - and work, of course.
If we're to agree that time is money, does that also mean that money is time? Well, not really. Money, unlike time, can be an infinite resource. Money may be a finite resource in any given moment, but we can always get more money, such as by getting paid, collecting interest and/or dividends, or winning cash prizes. A person can spend or lose $100 and recoup that fairly easily - especially in casinos (then again, that can quickly change to being down $100 again). With time though, if a person spends 2 hours playing video games or reading a book, those 2 hours can't be recovered the way $100 can. You'll never have that time again.
All of this is to reiterate what I once heard from a college professor: time is more valuable than money. And it's really not that close. With time, there are two questions we can ask ourselves. One, how are we spending our time? Two, who are we spending our time with? Our answers to those two questions will tell us a lot about ourselves.
When it comes to how we spend our time, it's true that we have to spend our time at work. There's not really a way around that one. But how are we spending the rest of the day when we aren't working? A lot of activities fall in here - sleeping, cooking/eating, commuting, exercising, social media, playing on our phones, texting, surfing the Web, listening to music, watching TV/movies, reading, writing, praying, reflecting, cleaning, talking/hanging out with others (more on this one later) and so on. While some activities can be done in conjunction with one another (i.e. listening to music while cleaning), other activities are best off singular, like sleeping.
Now when it comes to whom we spend our time with, I'll first defer to another saying: "You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with". That's pretty astonishing to think about. It also can make a person look around and see who those 5 people are. Are they family members? Friends? Coworkers? The people we spend our time with has a larger impact than we realize. It is important that we spend our time investing in others and having that group of people that we can depend on. Those are the people that we should be (and won't regret) spending our time with.
Time has this pesky way of moving faster than we'd like. There's never enough time for us to do all the things that we want to do. On any given weekend, I'll have an idea of what I'd like to do. But sure enough, Sunday night will roll around and I'll find myself either scrambling to do stuff I wanted to do or realize there were items I didn't get around to. In an age of social media and endless screens, it is incredibly easy to go down the rabbit hole and suddenly have spent an hour doing something we never intended to do in the first place. Admittedly, there have been evenings where I've told myself I want to go to bed at a certain time (say, 10) but sure enough, it'll be 10:30 and I still won't be in bed, all because I spent my time surfing the Web on my laptop or phone. And I'll have forgotten to read from a book or clean up. Better luck next time (no pun intended).
The thing about time is that as it marches on, we start reflecting and wishing that we had spent it differently or that we hadn't wished it away. It's so easy to forget that once that time has passed, it doesn't come back. I can look back on my time in college and wish that I had explored Waco more, gone to church more, and spent time with friends more. It is easy to think that the circumstances we're in will last forever, but they never do. If anything, they change a lot quicker than we realize. By the time they do, we'll wish that we had cherished that time more and not taken what we had for granted.
There will always be more money, more work, more food, and more toilet paper. That's not the case with time. We all live busy lives one way or another, but we can always find time for what's truly important to us. Spend your time doing activities that you enjoy and with people that you care about. Whether that's going on a trip, getting dinner, or just going for a walk, go for it. You'll be thankful for those times when you're older.
And most importantly, spend time with God. A few weeks ago at church, we finished a sermon series over Ecclesiastes. The final one (over Ecclesiastes 12) touched on how we spend our time and mentioned that we're going to be held accountable for how spend it. It also mentioned that if we spend our time solely chasing after earthly things and desires, our lives will be meaningless. Conversely, we need to invest in what will last and manage what we've been given wisely. Our time is precious. Make it matter. Hopefully I didn't waste anyone's time in the process.
There's the cliche "time is money," and there is truth to that. We value our time, especially since time is a finite resource. If we're spending our time doing Activity A, we're not spending our time doing Activities B-Z. Naturally, people get compensated by employers for their time - and work, of course.
If we're to agree that time is money, does that also mean that money is time? Well, not really. Money, unlike time, can be an infinite resource. Money may be a finite resource in any given moment, but we can always get more money, such as by getting paid, collecting interest and/or dividends, or winning cash prizes. A person can spend or lose $100 and recoup that fairly easily - especially in casinos (then again, that can quickly change to being down $100 again). With time though, if a person spends 2 hours playing video games or reading a book, those 2 hours can't be recovered the way $100 can. You'll never have that time again.
All of this is to reiterate what I once heard from a college professor: time is more valuable than money. And it's really not that close. With time, there are two questions we can ask ourselves. One, how are we spending our time? Two, who are we spending our time with? Our answers to those two questions will tell us a lot about ourselves.
When it comes to how we spend our time, it's true that we have to spend our time at work. There's not really a way around that one. But how are we spending the rest of the day when we aren't working? A lot of activities fall in here - sleeping, cooking/eating, commuting, exercising, social media, playing on our phones, texting, surfing the Web, listening to music, watching TV/movies, reading, writing, praying, reflecting, cleaning, talking/hanging out with others (more on this one later) and so on. While some activities can be done in conjunction with one another (i.e. listening to music while cleaning), other activities are best off singular, like sleeping.
Now when it comes to whom we spend our time with, I'll first defer to another saying: "You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with". That's pretty astonishing to think about. It also can make a person look around and see who those 5 people are. Are they family members? Friends? Coworkers? The people we spend our time with has a larger impact than we realize. It is important that we spend our time investing in others and having that group of people that we can depend on. Those are the people that we should be (and won't regret) spending our time with.
Time has this pesky way of moving faster than we'd like. There's never enough time for us to do all the things that we want to do. On any given weekend, I'll have an idea of what I'd like to do. But sure enough, Sunday night will roll around and I'll find myself either scrambling to do stuff I wanted to do or realize there were items I didn't get around to. In an age of social media and endless screens, it is incredibly easy to go down the rabbit hole and suddenly have spent an hour doing something we never intended to do in the first place. Admittedly, there have been evenings where I've told myself I want to go to bed at a certain time (say, 10) but sure enough, it'll be 10:30 and I still won't be in bed, all because I spent my time surfing the Web on my laptop or phone. And I'll have forgotten to read from a book or clean up. Better luck next time (no pun intended).
The thing about time is that as it marches on, we start reflecting and wishing that we had spent it differently or that we hadn't wished it away. It's so easy to forget that once that time has passed, it doesn't come back. I can look back on my time in college and wish that I had explored Waco more, gone to church more, and spent time with friends more. It is easy to think that the circumstances we're in will last forever, but they never do. If anything, they change a lot quicker than we realize. By the time they do, we'll wish that we had cherished that time more and not taken what we had for granted.
There will always be more money, more work, more food, and more toilet paper. That's not the case with time. We all live busy lives one way or another, but we can always find time for what's truly important to us. Spend your time doing activities that you enjoy and with people that you care about. Whether that's going on a trip, getting dinner, or just going for a walk, go for it. You'll be thankful for those times when you're older.
And most importantly, spend time with God. A few weeks ago at church, we finished a sermon series over Ecclesiastes. The final one (over Ecclesiastes 12) touched on how we spend our time and mentioned that we're going to be held accountable for how spend it. It also mentioned that if we spend our time solely chasing after earthly things and desires, our lives will be meaningless. Conversely, we need to invest in what will last and manage what we've been given wisely. Our time is precious. Make it matter. Hopefully I didn't waste anyone's time in the process.
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