Where does the time go?

It’s usually at this time of year that I begin to think about time. Daylight grows less and less each day. Nature turns dormant. The cold creeps upon us. It always reminds me that time is the most precious commodity we have.

We live only one unique moment at a time. Once that moment passes, there is never a promise that another will follow it.  The ways we spend our days, weeks, and months can never be undone. The 58 minutes that I spent the other day watching an episode of Law and Order that I have seen at least three times, will never return to me. (OK. I like Law and Order.)

With every second comes a decision set-up by the one preceding it and that will no doubt have an influence on the one that follows. What I find incredible is that even though time is the foundation of everything we do, we tend to value the world around us in terms of other "stuff." Typically, we look at time as something to be rushed through rather than having any innate worth. 

We pay for housing in terms of what day in the month our rent or mortgage is due. We look at our cars in terms of when they were built and how much longer we'll be paying on them. How many years have we been in school or at the same job?  How long have we been dating or married?  How many weeks until the baby is due? Time becomes a marker for just about everything in our lives.

And then time stops.

There may be no phrase that is more dreaded than the one that reminds us that our time is limited. It is in those moments that we realize how precious the quick seconds we so easily wish away truly are. The sad reality is that for most of us by the time we realize how important our time is, it is already too late.

Of late, I have been describing my relationship with time by saying, “Where does all the time go?” as if it passes at different speeds, which I could slow down or speed up. I hear my parents echoed in comments like that.  I remember well when they would warn me, “Don’t always be in such a hurry – soon enough we are old.”

We must be reminded that it is impossible to redo missed opportunities. I find it tragic to sit in a hospital room with a dying person who is not so terrified of death as over their regrets of time not well spent. 

Perhaps we should try to change the way we look at time. Right at this moment we are alive. We are breathing air and, therefore, we have choices to make.  If life is indeed a blessing, then we need not see every second is not a countdown to something else. Let’s stop thinking in terms of appointments, anniversaries, and dates that symbolize a race against time. Instead, let’s make the most of the time we have: invest in our most treasured relationships; take the time to enjoy nature; and, ask the tough question, "What does my life mean?"

How we answer the question ultimately dictates how we use our time. It will also dictate our regrets. We know life is short. As we approach our annual holidays where family and friends mean so much – and we are so often pressed for time -- may your days be filled with joy that can only come from above as we use our time to love – God’s ultimate command.