By Sunny Simon
During my early years, I never missed a meal due to my father’s excellent cooking. He made the best fried chicken in town. It was his claim to fame. Neighbors enlisted him to cook his special dish for every party on the block. One day I breezed through our kitchen as he worked on a batch of golden fried poultry. Dad asked me to stay so that he could teach me this culinary art. I smiled, and politely declined thinking there was plenty of time to learn trade secrets from this home chef. As it turned out, the clock ran out. I did not respect time.
I have a friend, let’s call her Kelsey, who never arrives to anywhere on time. She comes prepared with an excuse, sometimes creative, sometimes reasonable, often quite lame. Kelsey does not respect time.
My cousin Jimmy has been known to totally blank out on appointments. He claims he practices calendar management, but on occasion admits to losing track of the moments that lead to hours. Jimmy exhibits a lack of respect for time.
My friends and I are guilty of disrespecting the one thing that stops for no one, time. The late author and motivational speaker, Jim Rohn, aptly sums it up this way, “Time is of more value than money. You can get more money, you cannot get more time.”
At some level, we can all gauge of how much time is worth. If this article were about time management or work life balance, I would direct you to a website to help you track and gain productivity. But, today, that is not my message. I’m talking about respecting time.
Right now, do a deep dive on your treatment of time. In fact, it might be helpful to drop down to the bottom line. How much time do you think you have left? Perhaps, 30 or 20 year? Maybe more, maybe less?
As you contemplate time, quiz yourself. What exactly do you want to accomplish in the time you have left? Are you on the right path? Given the limited supply of your remaining hours, how can you manage your time to live life filled with happiness and peace while adding value to those around you? Those are personal questions only you can answer.
I will never have the opportunity to learn how to fry chicken from my favorite chef. That was one difficult lesson, but it taught me to revere the clock. Value your time and the time of others. Remember, it’s a limited commodity. Sunny Simon is the owner of Raise the Bar High Life and Career Coaching. More about Sunny at www.raisethebarhigh.com
