Back in 2012, I was sitting next to a guy on a plane departing Miami when I asked him, ‘Have you ever read a book that made you cry?’ He said, ‘Of course, The Timekeeper by Mitch Alborn, author of ‘The Five People You Will Meet In Heaven.’ I made a mental note that that would be my next read, but it took me a year to find the time. Ironically.
How many times a day do you hear someone say, ‘I don’t have time!’
I hear it more times than I can count, and most of the time, it’s me that’s doing the talking. I’ve missed appointments, birthday celebrations, weddings, baby showers, and some of the most important moments in the lives of others because I didn’t have time. Constantly working harder and harder each day in fear of time running out. How much time do I have to get to where I want to be before it’s too late?
In our 20s, we spend our time either furthering our education or looking for the perfect job, which fuels are creativity or has benefits and a great 401K plan. Some of us even spend our time working on business plans and starting small businesses that will launch our long-lasting careers. The end goal is financial stability. In our 30s, women who haven’t started a family already, start feeling as though if we don’t get the ball rolling by a certain age, the time on our biological clocks will run out and we will miss out on the opportunity to have kids. In this race to beat time, we begin to miss moments. Real moments.
In January of this year, on a 15 hour flight, I finally found the time to read ‘The Timekeeper,’ and I too cried as I flipped through the pages. The book is a fable (similar to that of The Alchemist), that follows a young boy name Dor that’s fascinated with the concept of time. He eventually become imprisoned where he grows old and becomes Father Time, and in order for him to gain his freedom again, he has to teach two people (a 17-year-old and a dying 87-year-old who is one of the richest men in the world) the value of time. It’s not the story that really brings you to tears, it’s the reflection on your own life as the lessons on time begin to all come together.
It begs the question:
Do we appreciate what we have when we count every minute?
I also had to ask myself if I was spending time on things that brought me joy and happiness, or was I in such a race to beat the clock that I forgot to live while counting seconds and minutes and hours.
Looking back, there has been two times in my life where I’ve received a call that a loved one was in the hospital, and I said, ‘I’ll go tomorrow’ but tomorrow never came for them. Their time ran out! What could I have possibly been doing with my time that was more important?
Sometimes we are so worried about the future, that we forget to live in the present moment.
6 Lessons & Quotes from The Time Keeper:
Do you live your life daily by blocks of time? Are you guilty of saying, ‘I don’t have time’?
If you had more time, what would you do with it?
What are some of the things you would accomplish?
Necole! Thank you for this wonderful post, because it not only hit home for me. It also helped gave me the insight of how I should not be looking at time so hard……but to actually take the time to truly live out my life amongst the greatest “Challenges” that I have faced and also that are in my near future.
So once again Necole I want to say thank you.
Hi Necole,
I downloaded The Timekeeper months ago to my kindle and it is collecting e-dust as I type this (shame on me).
Time is indeed a precious commodity that is often misused and taken advantage of. I must admit I am one to those that do not maximize my potential and often will procrastinate and put things off to a later date.
My Mom passed away last year and her death has completely knocked the wind out of my sails. I have now lost both of my parents as well Necole. The emptiness in my life has been indescribable.
I thought, her death would cause me to acknowledge that our lives can gone in a matter of seconds so I must do what I feel I was born to do before my time is up. However, it has not. I keep saying I need time to heal from her death but this morning I woke up at 4:30 crying my eyes out because I still have yet to finish my book and relaunch my website. I wonder I am just feeling sorry for myself and using the pain from her death as an excuse to further procrastinate.
One thing is for sure, I want to fulfill my purpose of earth and I know that is to be a blessing to millions of women but my true fear is not failure but success.
I cried and quickly got myself together and set another deadline to have my final book draft finished by July! I’m sticking to my plan this time because I realize as I continue to put things off, one day it will be such a thing as “too late.” I read a time management blog that advised to write in 30 minute sessions as opposed to 2 and 3 hour writing blocks. I’m taking this approach next week and see how it goes and tweak accordingly.
I will definitely read the book, sounds like a gem. Thanks for your wisdom and inspiration as always!
@Charlana, Thank you! And thank you for sharing your story. I’m sorry to hear about your lost. Earlier this year I dedicated myself to updating this site. It was a personal goal of mine, and I found that my ideas flowed when I woke up two hours before my normal time to get up. Between the hours of 4-6, there is extreme quiet and peace and at those hours, my ideas and thoughts came to me easier than later in the day. I’m not sure if that piece of info will help you but it’s worth a try. I also started finding time to read more, because reading helped me write a little better.
I’m happy to hear that you are dedicated to getting that book done. Once you get a few pages in, the ideas are just gonna flow and you are going to be done before you know it. Stay encouraged and know that your parents are watching over you and they would want the best for you! Many blessings!
@Necole, Thanks so much for the advice. I can see how the stillness of the early morning hours can be a blessing for creativity & writing. I’m certainly going to give it a try for 30 days.
Thanks again!
Necole,
How timely was this post. I am a 22 year old college student with a full time job and a full time school schedule and my life is so mundane and I miss out on so much because I have to stay focused but it’s gets so depressing when I can’t even get a chance to enjoy life. I’m feeling so old, when I’m so young. Thank you for this post to remind me that I still can have fun throughout my hectic life. Yet this is just for the moment, I’m graduating soon.
Losing weight and going back to school.
This post was amazing Necole. I graduated college a year ago and still haven’t found that perfect job I am looking for. I have been in such a rush to find it so I can be financially independent and be such an “adult ” that I haven’t had time for friends and a social life. I keep thinking that I am going to run out of time when I have been wasting time. All this time I have been wasting trying to find a “perfect” which probably doesn’t exist I could have been using to go back to school to get another degree in what a love instead of a job that only makes me happy in my bank account. Thank you so much for this post!!!!!
I am going to read that book.
Finishing my children’s book
That’s actually my biggest fear. I’ll be 27 years old in June, and every birthday I feel like my dreams are slipping away from me. I feel as though this will be as good as it’ll ever be for me. All I keep saying to myself is, I’m almost 30. I want to at least have something to show for being 30.
Yes and i have a procrastination bug… Im only 22 but i still can say Im not where i want to be…. I just keep telling myself in due time I WILL be costume designing for Beyonce
Thanks for this blog entry! I really needed to read this…I’m also very guilty of saying, “I don’t have time for this/that…” Last summer I started writing my first book and blog. I got a new full time job and now work almost 60 hours a week. Forcing myself to write has been difficult and while laying in bed I always think, “Why can’t there be more hours in the day?”
This entry has really inspired me and opened my eyes. I don’t need more hours in the day, I need to make the most out of the time that I do have.
Thank you for the inspiration!
The coincidence of me reading this couldn’t have come at a better time (no pun intended).
I’ve spent the last year trying to finish school, and getting rejected from numerous jobs. I’ve been homeless, car nearly repossessed, and right before I read this, I was feeling pretty worthless.
I love to write, and be creative. But when no one (it seems) believes in you, it feels like you’re wasting time waiting on someone to recognize the potential that you could bring to the table.
Well after reading this blog, I realized that I don’t have time to wait on others to see recognize my potential. I have to recognize my own potential, and to give up on putting my faith in others before I put my faith in myself.
There’s a little bit of power in the words, “When the world turns its back on you, you turn your back on the world” (a la Timon from the Disney movie ‘The Lion King).
Thanks for the read. It’s made me feel a little better about my umpteenth job rejection letter:)