Make Time for What Matters

Kitty Boitnott, Ph.D., NBCT, RScP

Career Transition & Job Search Coach

People often complain about how there is never enough time or money for them to do all they would like to do. Even if they have the money, they don't have the time. If they have the time, they don't have the money. Rarely does it happen that you have both the time and money to do things you would like to do.

It's important to remind us all...myself included...that we can usually make more money, but we cannot make more time. We have a certain amount of time...and we each get the same amount.

We all experience 24 hours in a day. We all get 365 days in a year. The only variable is when an individual's days come to a final end. Otherwise, we are all dealt the same hand as it relates to time.

We tend to delay and put off those things we think we would like to do, however. We use the excuse of not enough time or money to do whatever it is we want. I know this is true because I am as guilty of it as anyone I know. "Some day, I plan to travel. Some day, I will relax more. Some day I will find time to learn a new language."

The dilemma, of course, is that "some day" rarely ever arrives. We keep putting it in the future, so it never makes it into our "now."

Yet, "now" is all any of us have. None of us knows what tomorrow may bring. We may receive a surprise diagnosis that changes everything. We never know when an accident is just around the corner. Catastrophes of all kinds strike without warning and they change the lives of their victims forever.

I am writing this message on Saturday afternoon one week after Charlottesville. A week ago, Heather Heyer decided to go to town to protest what she perceived as injustice. She stood up for social justice and spoke up against hate speech. She paid the ultimate price for her courage. This week, her mother, Susan Bro is making time to be a light in the midst of the darkness that has followed that tragedy.

Heather's life has come to a tragic and all too abrupt end. The message of her life, however, is she made time for what mattered to her. Now her mother making time to lead us through this darkness to light.

What matters to you? Do you care enough about anything to give your life for it? Maybe you aren't that courageous, and that's not only okay but quite understandable. All I know for sure is that the events of this past week have us all reflecting on what is important and what matters.

That's why I think it is good to be reminded that we have a limited amount of time on Earth to make an impact. I don't know about you, but I want the time I spend here to mean something.

I am reminded of the poem, "The Dash" by Linda Ellis. To see a brief video of that poem please click here: https://youtu.be/zsY6UrFIsNs. I hope you will find it as impactful as I did the first time I read it and every time I share it with an audience.

Heather Heyer's "dash" was far too brief. At the age of 32, she was just starting her adult life. Yet, because of the way she died, she made her dash more meaningful than the dash of some who might live to be 100.

Consider if you are making time for the things that matter to you. If not, why not? If not now, when will you start? What are you waiting for?

Until next time.