You and I will never have more time than we have right now.
We spend most of this time staying alive. At the same time we possess the knowledge that one day our spring of days will run dry. Regardless of how much we wish it not to.
Though it does seem at times we really don’t mind.
Consider all the time we spend dreaming about things rather than doing them.
All the time we spend in fear. In shame. In anger. In bitterness. In judgement. In life’s shadow. Hiding from each other behind boasts and busy-ness. Denying ourselves. Denying each other.
Seneca understood this. Familiar name to you? He is a stoic philosopher who lived about 2,000 years ago.
“So it is: we are not given a short life but we make it short, and we are not ill-supplied but wasteful of it. Just as when ample and princely wealth falls to a bad owner it is squandered in a moment, but wealth however modest, if entrusted to a good custodian, increases with use, so our lifetime extends amply if you manage it properly.”
The length of your life is measured by the way you spend your time. It’s good to speak in terms of wealth. We take great care to manage our money and personal possessions. We spend a lot of time doing so. We weigh purchase decisions and hold our money accountable. Yet we spend our time relatively without consideration. When we do consider it’s often to ensure our own entertainment rather than our edification.
In Seneca’s words, we squander it.
“No one will bring back the years; no one will restore you to yourself. Life will follow the path it began to take, and will neither reverse nor check its course. It will cause no commotion to remind you of its swiftness, but glide on quietly. It will not lengthen itself for a king’s command or a people’s favour. As it started out on its first day, so it will run on, nowhere pausing or turning aside. What will be the outcome? You have been preoccupied while life hastens on. Meanwhile death will arrive, and you have no choice in making yourself available for that.”
The more I give thought to my time the more waste I witness. It’s true that I’m prone to squander. I trade the important for the urgent too often. I’m shortening my life by being so careless with my time. Most of the time I don’t even know it.
I tell you this because I suspect you understand.
I’m going to be less careless for a bit.
You’re free to join me if you have the time.
