Nothing But Time
Up until about two years ago I truly believed I had nothing but time. Then something in me changed. I started to look at life differently, and it was all due to my youngest son.
He was about four years old and I found myself rushing him to put his shoes on because we had to be somewhere. But what I failed to realize was that he was trying to tell me a story to make me laugh.
So after we got into the car and started heading to our destination I realized I had missed an opportunity to connect with my son. For some reason this started me thinking more about time and how precious it is and how none of us are promised the next minute in our lives.
We go through life always in a rush, and unfortunately it’s ingrained in us from childhood.
“Hurry up son, we’re going to be late!”
“Hurry up son, you’re going to miss the bus!”
“Hurry up son, put on your shoes!”
“Hurry up, hurry up, hurry UP!
For me, that quickly transitioned into:
“Hurry up Mike, you’re going to be late for that meeting!”
“Hurry up Mike, we want to beat traffic!”
“Hurry up Mike, we gotta go pre-drinking before the club!” (Sad but true.) Oh, how times have changed.
I soon found myself always in the mindset of just getting to the next thing and never thinking about time being limited. To be honest I still struggle with that sometimes.
Now I’m not saying that this can be avoided. It’s life and the society most of us live in demands a lot of our time. Careers, friends, family commitments, social events, etc… But what we can do is look at the things in our lives that can help give us the most time possible and to me health and wellness is at the top of that list. Though time waits for no one you better believe that I will do everything I can to give myself the most quality time for both me and my family.
They deserve that.
This is a huge piece of MY puzzle when it comes to what motivates me everyday to engage in some sort of physical activity as well as balance my diet. These two things should be at the top of everyone’s list! And if you don’t think you have the time to exercise, take a step back and look at your day to day. I guarantee there are things in your life that aren’t that important and are eating up precious minutes.
For me it was playing Toon Blast on my phone or spending hours watching TV.
Cut out the things that aren’t truly important and begin putting more emphasis on the things that are.
Start “trimming the fat” in your life!
So lastly, let me make a point. We all repeat and hear the cliche phrases:
“Stop and smell the roses”,
“Enjoy the journey”,
“The journey is the true adventure”,
“The scenery is the path to the gates of truth” … I made that up. I don’t even know what that means. 😂
Remember that this journey isn’t as sweet from a hospital bed. Do your best to NOT put your health and wellness at risk for as long as you can. Make your health a priority.
Start walking 3 times a week;
Start eating chicken breast instead of chicken nuggets;
Start thinking about quality of life and not just existing;
Just Start.
Great post Mike so true especially in modern society. We almost never stop to appreciate where we are what we are doing and who we are with. Always thinking, okay what’s next, almost never living in the now
Thanks so much for the comment Kern. It’s like we’re more interested on showing the world the places we’ve been instead of truly experiencing those places while we’re there. Really sad.
I even have to remind myself from time to time to take a step back and appreciate the now. Thanks again my friend.