Two of my faves Laurie K and Writer Chick both recently wrote about time and the effect that it has on us and our decisions in life.
This got me to doing a bit of obnoxious reflecting.
There are over 100,000 products on Amazon.com with the word time in the name. There are about 50,000 with the words time machine. There are over 14 billion Google results for time. There are self-help books and seminars on time management. We're attached to Outlook and schedules, often perpetually connected by a handy PDA or Crackberry. We try to recapture time with "age defying" serums and Botox injections. We try to delay time with natural or medicinal remedies for our lives, buying organic foods and hitting up the doc every time we sneeze. Hell, even I almost hyperventilate whenever I end up in a waiting room or a classroom with no clock in sight. But I just dig out my trusty cell phone and feel whole again.
We seem to think we have a grasp on time. We make appointments and keep them. We set goals based on time. We are forced to prioritize our lives based on level of importance, because we only have so much TIME.
We begin to neglect things - healthy eating, exercise, sleep, having fun, relaxing, being creative, family time, marriage. These are things we take for granted and assume will take care of themselves once we get everything else done. But they won't. We have to make time for them - that is, they have to become a priority.
The cop and I have had long talks about being rich. Sure it would be nice to have money, to be able to buy all the things we want. It would be nice to have a BMW in the garage of our four bedroom house, but we would much rather live in a two bedroom with my six-year-old Honda in the driveway if that means we get more time together to be happy.
You should measure your life by your feeling of success. Maybe you think working 60 hours a week for that six-figure salary is your success now, but later in life will it leave you regretting what or who was neglected for you to reach it?
I believe in the end, we will be judged by how we spent our time, by the way we prioritized things, jobs, and relationships in our lives.
Note to Self: My success - to look back knowing I was happy and loved. So far, so good.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Time
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7 comments:
Hey MJ!
Great post and I agree whole-heartedly. It's not really the material things that matter in the long run - it's the connections we make along the way, isn't it? Because that is what enriches our lives. I like your style, kiddo.
Thanks for the linky love.
Annie
Great writing, MJ. SEriously good stuff.
Success means many things to many people. I don't have the same drive or motivation that I did 20 years ago. Right now, success means happiness and contentment--when I was 29 I wanted to feel that way based on how many TV stations I was on or how much $$$ I had in my bank account.
I don't want to look back on my life and have major regrets. But then again, if I do, at least I know I've been human. I want to die emotionally debt free.
That's what I'm endeavoring to do from this point on.
Thanks for linking to me. That I have your respect means a great deal to me.
Best,
LK
What a FAB post!!! Bravo...and soooo true. I don't need a lot of money just want my bills to be paid and a roof over our family's head...car...schmar!
I agree...living in the moment is the only way to do things, because if you're always looking ahead or back, you'll never see what's right there.
success. sucess is such an interesting thing and how we wager that success.
before we had "K" i was working full time. my success was related to the hours i spent at work in conjunction with the paycheck i earned for myself.
now take that to being a stay-at-home-wife. where i don't earn any pay and i don't have a clock that i punch into every day. i often feel very lost as to how "successful" i am.
i often feel a pressure on myself to take my design work and begin working for myself again. but whenever i feel this pressure, i know that part of it is that silly notion that i need to somehow be clocking in somewhere and earning money. to know that earning that dollar would be a way to feel secure in myself that i'm doing something successful.
but if that's the only reason i want to work for myself. that isn't good enough and i know it. and yet the pressure still exists. silly, isn't it?
WC - So true. And you're very welcome.
LK - emotionally debt free - Now that's a good way to put it.
Rachel - :) Exactly.
CM - That's right. And if you're busy staring into your wallet, you'll likely run into a wall...
Calamity - Ah, thanks.
BN - So true. I think it's just ingrained in us. We grew up watching our parents work. Now we see our siblings, friends, and colleagues working their butt off too. It seems so strange to take a different path, even if it's the one that makes us the most happy.
Hey MJ me about having your blog reviewed by Calamity. I'd like to "share" a few things with you.
You have my e-mail.
LK
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