The Power Of Time

In this past week, as I celebrated another birthday, I was reminded of the privilege of being birthed and alive for such a time as this. I was also reminded of being surrounded by people who care for and love me. Finally I was starkly aware of ‘Time’, the fact that it is passing and no one can stand in its way.

I thought of people who passed through time and are now gone; knowing that each and everyone of us, with the passage of time, will also be gone at some point. There’s nothing we can do about that but there’s a lot we can do while we are still alive, breathing and well.

With the passage of time, many noble people and things are forgotten; we prove the saying that we came to this world with nothing and we will leave it taking nothing. As time passes on, we realise that the efforts we failed to put in when we had the strength and the decisions we failed to make will have some consequences.

Here are some of my takeaways from my Birthday reflection on the passage of time.

Time and Actions

This applies to all areas of our lives. It is important that we take actions at the right times. If we fail to take care of our health, it eventually catches up with us. If we fail to work hard in the right seasons of our lives, it catches up with us and if we don’t build the important relationships, again we pay the price with the passage of time.

Time and Goals or Dreams

One can’t talk about ‘Time’ without talking about dreams and goals. Each time I think about this I am reminded of an analogy about time passing no matter what. Imagine if you’ve always had a dream to do something but you think you’re too old to do it. It could be getting an education or skill, retraining or changing career.

Some people will focus on the amount of time needed to accomplish their goals and this puts them off. The reality is that the time you are concerned about will pass regardless of whether or not you go after your dreams and goals.

So you have an option to be a forty year old going back to university and being five years older by the time you graduate; or you will still be five years older, just without the degree.

Sadly at that point, those dreams and goals are still there and your reasons for not being able to do them wouldn’t have changed either. You will still feel like you’re too old to go after your dreams but now, you’re definitely older so overcoming that excuse becomes even harder.

Time and Legacy

Sadly we have many people passing through time thinking only of themselves. This can be at the basic level where their focus is selfishly on themselves and their family members making it easy for them to step on others as long as the outcomes benefit them.

On a larger scale, this includes corrupt politicians and leaders who abuse their positions to enrich themselves and their ‘own’ focused only on amassing wealth they can never spend to boost egos and fill the emptiness that can only explain their endless thirst for ill-gotten wealth at the expense of the masses they are meant to serve.

Newsflash, everything that is selfishly and corruptly amassed will be left when you die, if you’re ‘lucky’ your children will spend a bit of it and leave the rest when they die.

And for those that are without common sense, the nations that the funds are hidden in will enjoy the stolen funds whilst their children will likely end up struggling because they grew up too privileged to know how to strive for their own results.

A corrupt politician or leader leaves no meaningful legacy with the passage of time.

Time is a gift; use it well

None of us knows how much time we have at any given moment so all we can do is choose to live each day we are alive in a way that is purposeful, meaningful, grateful, compassionate and generous. Don’t put your life on hold, don’t delay your dreams and goals and don’t waste your days.

Make time for what truly matters. Redeem your days because they are truly short. In closing, I love the quote from Aristotle which says, “Time crumbles things; everything grows old under the power of Time and is forgotten through the lapse of Time.”

Have a great week; thanks for reading and sharing my Blog with others.