In the last few decades, our lifestyles have become all about having more. We work multiple jobs for more money. We become slaves to our massive homes, expensive cars, and room after room filled with gadgets and toys. And at some point, every one of us thought or muttered, “if only I had more time…”
But it is common knowledge that time is not something that we can control. Even the wealthiest people in the world are limited to 24 hours in a day. You cannot bargain or buy more time. But what if you could? What if the entire world was told, forced, to stop the constant rush and peacefully step back and experience time for a few weeks?
Would we, as a society, curse the time mandate? Or would we settle in and see it as the gift that it could be? When was the last time that you spent a week or even more than a few days with your loved ones uninterrupted? When was the last time that you thought of your world, and your mind never ventured beyond your immediate family and your home? When did you think about some me time, and have no place else to go or anything stopping you from soaking in that bubble-filled tub, reading that guilty pleasure book of fiction, or just sitting very still and feeling the warm sun on your skin?
While it is true that we are facing many uncertainties and challenges, we are also being given an opportunity. We are being given something that we should all treasure and not squander. Time is not a gift that the universe gives freely or abundantly. And even though this gift has a price, it is one that we will pay regardless of how we choose to use our share of this universal endowment. You are paying the price for this time, so see it and appreciate it as the gift that it can be.
Thank you, Kathy, for this well written, beautifully expressed message to encourage us to truly live each day to the fullest, which may sound trite in the midst of all this suffering as we watch TV and see so many people being affected by Covid-19. I see this global pandemic as a major reset of our values and our lives as humans, how we spend our days, how we treat others, how we feel about our dear Mother Earth, how we spend our time, talents and treasures and what we think, say and do to affect the quality of each and every day. As you say, Kathy, all any of us have is 24 hours a day, but it’s up to each and every one of us how to spend it. Also, as Viktor Frankl taught us after surviving Auschwitz, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Perhaps this forced social distancing is an opportunity to go within and get to know our true selves and connect with our Divine Creator so we will know without a doubt that we are loved unconditionally and are here to love others as we truly love ourselves by showing love to others.
Triple, triple bbbeeeaaauuutttiiifffuuulll. Yes, many of us pray for me time, but we wanted it on our own terms. Take this time to reflect, reconnect, rejoice and enjoy what time you got.
Yes COVID 19 has given us the gift of time. How we use it, will help or hinders us. Please use your time with benefits for you and others.
With time to reflect on life so many people will wonder where has my life gone, I have been so busy I missed it all. God made this life for a holiday for our souls and we have turned into a nightmare through money and greed. Maybe if everyone had the same again, we are judged by how kind and loving we are not possessions then this would be a better world to live in. As I write this kindness and love is spreading please PASS IT ON.