A finite resource that we use as an endless source...
Standing up on a bank line? Stuck at the airport? Awaiting something that is taking too long? Something unexpected came out?.
All this has something irretrievable in common. Time
Learning how to get out the most of your time under those kinds of experiences is a rare skill we don't develop in the modern age. But no worries, that is what this post aims for.
As Charles R. Swindoll said:
Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you react to it.
I don’t know Charles, but I couldn’t agree more with him.
Yet there’s one little but crucial change to the percentage he states I would like to change. I will change the 10% to 1%, so the rest becomes 99%.
Why Bob?
Because I don't think that our life is the result of 10% of things that happen. It’s too much weight to it. It’s giving it too much responsibility.
I do believe that what happens in our lives by itself doesn't have a critical impact on the outcome, so 1% is just for the sake of what we can do from there.
In that regard, 99% is what your life state really depends on.
How you react to events you experience in your life represents either the chance to blame and stay stuck, or take advantage of it and emerge off.
The way you react to it will show the level of awareness of time, and it will shape and determine the outcome of each situation.
It’s a countdown, not an endless source
It’s not about how you fell into the situation X or Y or why you are at it right now, but how you will act upon it.
Throughout the years, I have noticed that most of us are not conscious of not just the importance of time, but also the fact this is a finite resource.
It’s a countdown, but we use it as an endless source, though.
So dear reader, the moment you decided to read this piece, you bet to use this resource wisely.
The irretrievable element in your life
You can lose your money, and you will make more of it, you could quit your girlfriend or wife, and you could get in love again, you can lose your car and buy a new one later.
What happens when the time has gone away?. It will never come back, dude!. Read it again.
Time is the only damn element in our life irretrievable!. It’s the most precious and valuable thing we have.
Yet, it seems most of us are not really conscious of it.
I am emphasizing this because we need to make a full stop and think seriously if we are wasting or spending this finite resource.
Traveling — A hope to continue alive
Before the pandemic hit, all weekdays, I woke up around 5–5:30 am, but on Saturdays, I always woke up around 4:00 am to be ready to travel from my country’s capital to the East.
The East is the place I grew up happily. My family, wife, son, mom, dad, brothers, and childhood friends lived there.
Yet, in pursuing better opportunities, I moved out to the capital a few years ago. Since then, on weekends, as you might guess, I had beautiful and enough reasons to travel to the East.
A hope to continue alive. Tons of reasons to keep pushing.
I wrote this post while traveling to the East. It was written down in my notebook on November 2, 2019, while I was living the whole story I will tell you throughout this piece.
Taking advantage of your own circumstances
I consider myself an avid reader.
All the time, while traveling on the bus, I used to catch up with my daily reading.
As should be expected, my cellphone did a really hard job, and since the trip took around five hours, the odds it is going to die were high.
This exact story was repeated on my journey on Saturdays, my cellphone ran out of charge at some point on the road.
The Day of the Dead
As I said above, this story was written On November 2, 2019, in my notebook. On this day, my country joins in the Day of the Dead celebration, so we have a day off.
An unexpected event came up
During the Day of the Dead, all people travel to different graveyards, as a result, the car traffic increases as hell.
Yet, apart from that, this day occurred something unexpected.
Almost landing in the countryside, there was really crazy traffic. Believe it or not, there was a line of cars more than 10 km.
Just to have an idea, I spent, spent, spent… five hours awaiting in that crazy traffic line.
If you noticed, I said I “spent” rather than “waste” time. Why?
There’s a huge difference in the outcome that each offers. “Spent” means I took advantage of it and something meaningful came out of it. On the contrary, “wasted” means the time went away but no meaningful outcome.
My phone died. Then I thought, I can’t read, I can’t check my email, I can’t check any social network updates, I can’t call anybody.
Damn! I could not do anything.
It was at that moment that I asked myself. What would I do from this disconnection and knowing the time is running away?.
I took the right choice. I decided to take advantage of the time and started out writing this post.
Ending Thoughts
Time is limited and irretrievable.
If you are not aware of how much it is worth, you are totally lost. Sadly.
Build the habit of getting out the most of your time under those unexpected or boring life experiences.
How you react to events represents either the opportunity to blame and stay stuck, or take advantage of it and emerge off. It’s your choice.
Reactive people are often affected by their physical environment. If the weather is good, they feel good. If it isn’t, it affects their attitude and performance. Proactive people carry their own weather with them. — Stephen Covey
Finally, I would like to encourage you to start using your time wisely if you want to get a different result in your life.
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