Of course, I live a life of deadlines, so I rush and hurry in spurts of activity, but these have always been stressful bites of time nestled in my belief that, in the big picture, I had all the time I would ever need for everything I would ever want to do.
Then, things started happening that made me question the abundance of time. Kids grow up. Parents die. Health issues surface.
Suddenly, time doesn't seem like my friend anymore. It seems like a competitor, a task master, a stalker. I now sometimes have a sense that what was once abundant is now scarce - very scarce - and precious. I've written a lot about living for the moment and embracing the time you have right now, and I truly believed everything I wrote, but it wasn't until recently that I started to feel it. This life really is short, much shorter than I ever thought.
One of my favorite songs is Tim McGraw's Live Like You Were Dying. It's a great reminder that we should live each day like it's our last. I want to live that way, I really do. But how do you reconcile that with the responsibilities of life like raising a family and earning a living? I can't stop working because I want to spend more time with my kids or because I want to see sunsets in Hawaii.
I know it's about priorities - making them and keeping them.
So, today I'll set some priorities and try to find some balance between being a responsible adult and living like today is my last day.
How do you do that?
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That's food for some serious thought. We need to apply to our personal lives some of the same management methods that we use in our careers and in our daily work.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter graduates from college this year. No more long breaks at home. When I think of all the things I want to do with her and all the knowledge I want to pass along to her, my heart aches.
Don't wait to live your life folks. Don't wait.