Time

Time is such a funny thing. It is a seemingly very needed tool in our lives. It helps keep us organized, it helps us know when to do things, and it allows us to compartmentalize our lives. It is a man made creation, and it definitely serves a purpose.

What if we stripped it all way. Forget about hours, minutes, and seconds. Forget about expensive watches, big clock towers, alarm clocks, and whatever you have. Well, the sun comes up, and the sun goes down. We need to eat, we need to sleep, we need an industrious way to spend our days, and we need each other.

I would like you to think about how you would lay out days if there were no time. What would your priorities be? How would you organize yourself? What portions of the day would be spent on each of the important tasks? Think about your days, if time were not there. Think about just the things you needed and wanted were in your life.

I think that most of us would probably work less, spend more time with each other, sleep more, and spend our days doing things we enjoyed. Time seems to make all this change. People spend too much time at work, we miss out on time with our family and friends. We eat crappy meals on the run, spilling all down our fronts. Why is this? Are we going to get ahead? Is getting ahead worth the time lost? Is it worth all the money? (Or, shall I say, the chance of money?)

We were fortunate last summer to be able go to Italy on a vacation. The culture I saw there was very different. The pace was slower. Time was a much rounder thing. It was very different. People were enjoying their days. They were spending long hours at meals with their families. They were taking time off work in the afternoon. It was really hard sometimes to find food at the time that we Americans were hungry, because the restaurants were just flat out closed. Where are their values? I see where their values are. It is on enjoying your time here. It is on families and friends. People have work, they have watches, they have bills, and there is industry, but it was palpably different.

Here in the West we are proud of our capitalistic culture. We are proud of our take charge attitude and our ability to make our own way. I am all for it and I am part of it, but as I begin my family I start to wonder about this place. Where is the value? Are people valuing the things that matter? Are people spending their time like they want to spend their time? If you took away time, would people still operate the same way in this country?

With all this time spent on so many things that don’t always seem to have meaning, I begin to wonder what time really is. I’ll tell you what time is. Time is a gift. It is the greatest gift you can give someone. To give someone your time is to value them over all things at that moment. You are saying that you care about them. You care about their well being, you value their story, and more-so you value them. We only get so much time. This road is only so long for all of us. While you are here, while you are choosing, while you are able, think about how you are spending your time. Allot time to the things that matter. Each day do those things and I would bet you will be happy when your time spent is winding down.

 

Danny Lesslie

@dannylesslie