Where does it go? Where does it come from? Where does it live? Who does it belong to? You can’t borrow more. You can’t recall the minutes wasted and use them now. You can’t put it away to use sometime later when you’re more prepared for it. It never laps over itself.
When a second passes, it’s gone forever, and you’re on to the next. How you use it doesn’t affect its speed or purpose. Ready or not, here it comes…and then there it goes. And as you look in your rear view at the time that has passed, there goes another minute, and another. What is this thing over which we have literally ZERO control?
Yesterday is just as gone as one hundred years ago and 5 minutes ago. The thing that happened last year is just as out of my control as the thing I did last night. Tomorrow is just as uncertain as 15 minutes from now and ninety years from now. The only thing that is certain is now. This very second. You spent your childhood preparing for now. You went to school and did your chores; you learnt to say ‘yes, ma’am’ and ‘thank you, sir’. And here you are now…are you preparing for yet another future? When will you just live for now?
Beware these two-time thieves…Regret and Procrastination…both distract you from the gift of now, and force you to focus on what is no longer, and what is not yet, in your control. Don’t confuse procrastination with the grown-up concept of saving for a rainy day, investing, and planning. Those are all actions that are taken…TODAY.
There is life to be lived, my friend. This is the time you’ve been waiting for. Do the thing that brings you joy and squeeze as much life as possible into every single breath you are blessed enough to take! The thing that lights up your soul and makes the harder times worth enduring. Music? Art? Sport? Cooking? Travel? Time with loved ones? What is it? What sets your entire being on fire? The thing that you would do if success was guaranteed. The thing that you would do even if you never got paid for it.
That’s the thing you need to be injecting into your NOW! Even just for 5 minutes a day. Starting today. Not tomorrow…remember that starting tomorrow is as good as starting twenty years from now! Who knows what tomorrow holds? And don’t look back and say oh, I wish I had started sooner. The clock is ticking as you keep wishing. And tomorrow, you will wish you had just started today.
Time is a gift, beloved. One that can’t be regifted or sent back for a refund. Use it wisely. Use it gratefully. Use it to its absolute fullest! Pack into it every morsel of positive energy and goodness because all you will have of it in a few seconds, is a memory.