by Dr. Ben Bowers
Time – it is always moving forward.
Some people say that Time flies!
Some ask, “Who has time?”
Others say, “I don’t have time.”
Still others ask, “How much time do we have?”
Or as some will say, “It will be here (or be over) before you know it.”
So How Do We Value Time?
Time has always fascinated me. When I was a child, I had no concept of time other than my daily time. As I grew, I realized that time was very important (especially in school). At times (pun intended), I wanted time to speed up! When my children were born I wanted time to speed up and then I wanted it to slow down. Then later, through troubling times, I wanted time to just stop. The pain of it was just too much! And then, with other difficult times, I wanted time to supercharge me through the difficulty to get past it.
As I began to try and understand time, and my time here on earth, my research led me to some interesting quotes and concepts that taught/teach me and remind me of the significance of time:
- Time is what we want most, but… what we use the worst. William Penn
- Regret for wasted time is more wasted time. Mason Cooley
- Lost time is never found again. Benjamin Franklin
- Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination: never put off till tomorrow what you can do today. Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
- Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend. Theophrastus
- Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its brevity. Jean De La Bruyere
- Time is a created thing. To say “I don’t have time,” is like saying, “I don’t want to.” Lao Tzu
- Better three hours too soon, than one minute too late. William Shakespeare
- Time is the wisest counselor of all. Pericles
- Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely. Rodin
- Time = life; therefore, waste your time and waste of your life, or master your time and master your life. Alan Lakein
- The common man is not concerned about the passage of time, the man of talent is driven by it. Shoppenhauer
- Don’t be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of. One man gets only a week’s value out of a year while another man gets a full year’s value out of a week. Charles Richards
- Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. Steve Jobs
- You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space. Johnny Cash
- Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world. Joel A. Barker
- We must use time as a tool, not as a crutch. John F. Kennedy
- The key is in not spending time, but in investing it. Stephen R. Covey
I’m sure most of us have heard this saying, or at least some variation of it:
“Yesterday is in the tomb (the past), tomorrow is in the womb (the future), all you have is the present (today), it is your gift, so open up your present today (it is your current presence)!”
Another concept is that yesterday is but today’s memory, and tomorrow is but today’s dream. So, the only way to change your past is to change your future today. Because tomorrow, today will be your past, and today’s future will be your today! And, you then have another chance to change tomorrow – today!
I also love how Jim Rohn talks about the 2 major considerations a person should pay close attention to in life.
The first one is money. And the second one is time.
Then he goes on to say that:
“Time Is More Valuable Than Money!” (That is a statement worth remembering and paying close attention to!) You can always get more money, but unfortunately you cannot get more time!
If someone was to ask you to spend your money, that’s pretty easy. We here in America, we are wealthy compared to the rest of the world. So, the money is not really the problem.
But, what if someone asked you to spend a day? You have to think that over very carefully! You do not want to waste one of your days for just anybody or anything! Once you understand how valuable they are you don’t want to waste any!
It has been calculated that the average human being will live around 75 years (taking into consideration gender, genetics, location, etc., & and those that die earlier and those that live longer). That is approximately 28,000 days. Or 672,000 hours of life! Now consider that the average person sleeps 8 hours a day, (which is 1/3rd of a day), then the average person will sleep 73,000 hours, or 9,125 days, or 25 years of their life!
Then translate those same hours into work time. How much of your time is spent on traveling to and from work? How much time are you spending on making a living verses being invested in making your fortune?
How much time is spent on just eating? How much time is spent (invested) on your own Personal Development and/or Growth? How much time is spent on your health – exercising both your body and your brain?
How much time is spent on your relationships? Those with your Parents (if living)? Your Siblings (if you have any)? Your Spouse or Significant Other (if you have one)? Your Children (if you have any)? Your special Friendships? Your Pets (if you have any)?
So, We Must Make Each Day Count Towards: Our Today, Our Future, and Our Legacy!
We should all value our time and look at it as an investment. So, just like a monetary investment, we should ask about the return on our time investment. How much time do you invest trying to understand your time and the things that place demands on your time? What is the return of your time invested into: TV, radio, internet, Facebook, twitter, video games, etc.? How are you allowing these things to waste your time?
Another thought is to not let other people steal from you!
If you had a million dollars in cash under your mattress, you would check it regularly and take precautions to insure it is safe. The one possession you have that is more important than money is time. But some people do not do anything to protect it. In fact, they willingly give it to thieves. Who are the thieves they so willing give to? They are the selfish people, the egotistical people, the negative people, people who won’t shut up and waste your time! They seem to drain the very essence of your life (time) from you! You need to treat your time like the most precious Gold that is in Fort Knox. Guard it closely and give it only to those who deserve and respect it.
In the words of Bob Newhart: “Stop It”
(Look up the Bob Newhart – Stop It video on YouTube! It Is Worth Your Time to watch that and understand it’s significance in and on your life! IMHO! I know that this would not and does not apply to all conditions, yet it is still of great value! It is only 6.21 minutes long.)
In closing, let me give an example of what I sometimes teach in my seminars regarding time.
(If hunting animals bother you, then please skip this section!!!)
A 60 year old hunter says: “I love to hunt. I love to hunt bird/fowl, I love to hunt deer, and I love to hunt elk.”
Now, if you look at the hunting seasons, there are some limited times to hunt. In general, let’s say that the hunter can hunt fowl about 20 times a year. Since he (or she) is 60 years of age let’s say that he can safely hunt for at least 10 more years (that leaves 5 questionable years). So, 20 opportunities a year for 10 years mean that he can hunt some fowl 200 more times. It is probably no big deal if he were to miss a few!
Then consider that there are generally 1-2 seasons a year that he can hunt deer. That means for 2 seasons a year, times 10 years, he only has 20 opportunities to hunt deer (yes I know that there may be 10+ days a season depending on black powder, bow and arrow or rifle and state laws), but that means if he were to miss one of those seasons, that is a much bigger deal!
Then consider that he may only go elk hunting once every 3-5 years (and consider 7-10 days in that time), and realize that means he only has 2 or 3 times to hunt elk the rest of his life, and you can understand that he really does not want to miss any one of those!!!
Now let’s change the topic from hunting to the amount of time that you have available to do things with family, kids, grandkids, friends, missions, vacations, travel, hobbies; things that really make an impact on others’ lives – especially those that you love!
To me, that is one way that I can calculate and value the time that I have left on this earth. What is it that I only have a very limited time to do, achieve, accomplish or experience? Then considering my passions, my purpose, and my ability to leave a specific legacy, I can finally understand my time significance!
So, thank you for making the investment of your time to read this article today! I know that it was worth my time to study “Time” and to spend the time to write this. Since at the time of this writing, I am 60 years of age, and I have experienced many opportunities to value my time, I want you to know that I really appreciate it and hope you truly get some value out of the time you spent here!
As Jim Rohn said: I know that it is costly for you to be here. I also want you to realize it was costly for me to be here (writing this) as well because it is going to cost me some time in one of my days (hours) to be here! And I value my days! I could be just about anywhere else yet I chose to be here with you today – just as you chose to be here with me today!!
May God truly bless you as you seek Him above all else and as you value the investment of Your Time!