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Mid-week Inspiration,
It is so easy to say I don’t have time. I don’t have time to call someone I am thinking of, I don’t have time to stop and listen to a friend; I don’t have time to see the spring flowers opening.
What do I have time for, what do you have time for? Do we have time to watch TV? …To listen to the news? …Again?
Do we have time to surf the web? …Play a video game? …Go shopping? …Read a novel? …Go for a drink? …A latte? …A beer? What do we have time for?
How we spend our time, more than anything, determines who we are. Every day is a constant shuffle of a limited number of hours in order to maximize our sense of fulfillment when those precious moments are all used up.
Do you ever take the time at the end of the day to ask yourself what you most enjoyed and appreciated? It is a ritual my wife and I have taken to indulging in, often very revealing. Sixteen hours of activity have gone by and I am left asking myself “So what gift did I receive from this day?” So often the most important gift I received was a flower, a bird or a smile that I may have seen through the corner of my eye. On special days I get to recount how my actions brought joy into someones' life, and then I feel very blessed. But there are days that come when I have a difficult time recounting anything good. I have to think; sometimes I have to reflect on something that happened that left me feeling upset or angry. Sometimes I need to re evaluate my use of time when I realize that I have not included my family and close friends; when all I can think of is the work that consumed my time and energy.
I once heard that a study was done of people who were dying. They were asked if they had any regrets; if there was anything they would do differently if they could. Almost without exception they said their only regret was ‘having not given enough time to the enjoyment of life and appreciation of their families’.
A poem by an anonymous author says it well: | It’s not the crows feet under your eyes that make you old,
Or the grey in your hair I’m told.
But when your mind makes a contract that your body can’t fill,
You’re over the hill, mama, you’re over the hill. | It is easy to become too busy, it is easy to forget what truly brings us joy. It is easy in the pursuit of great and majestic goals to forget that real fulfillment comes in the moments along the way. It is far too easy to get distracted by the glitz and glitter of the consumer’s world and forget what the true and lasting pleasures are.
At the end of the day what will you say? “This day was hell” …or, “This day was heaven”? A moment of evaluation can go a long way to improving and enriching our lives. It will help us to appreciate the small things which bring us joy and it will help us to keep a clear purpose for the work we are doing. Happiness can be an elusive friend, easy to lose and easy to forget. A few moments taken each day can do much to keeping that friend in your life. For your sake, take the time. Blessings, 
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