TIME – OUR GREATEST TREASURE
It never ceases to amaze me how people trifle with time. Yet it is their greatest treasure. The reason is not far-fetched though. They mismanage time because they have no understanding of the importance and value of time. So first and foremost, we will begin by studying this wonderful treasure called time. By the time we conclude this piece, your sense of appreciation of time would have soared. You will begin to appreciate every single minute and hour of your day.
THE IMPORTANCE OF TIME
Time is the most valuable resource that God gave mankind. Every human being that is alive is blessed with this wonderful treasure called time. It is given equally as 24 hours per day, so no one can complain of being cheated by the creator. The poor receives 24 hours and the rich also gets 24 hours every day. The difference between both lies in the way they manage their time.
Why is time so important? Why do successful people treasure their time while the unsuccessful people trivialize theirs? Why do Millionaires complain of insufficient time to perform their tasks whereas poor people wonder what to do with their excess time? Hardly do you see a successful person who sits to watch TV for more than one hour, but a lot of broke people live in front of their TV sets. According to Thomas Corley, author of “Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits Of Wealthy Individuals” 67 percent of rich people only watch TV for one hour or less per day. Also, only 6 percent of the wealthy watch reality shows, while 78 percent of the poor do.1
Successful people understand the value of time while unsuccessful ones do not. The successful appreciate every second of their day because they realize the following:
EVERYTHING IS A PRODUCT OF TIME
Time can be converted into tangible or intangible products such as goods and services. Houses, Cars, Movies, Paintings, College Degrees are products of time because time was invested in the process of their production. Everything we see was made out of time.
Using a house for instance, all the people who were involved in the entire process of building the house were paid for their time. The house was built with materials that were manufactured by people who spent time doing so. The house was designed and built by people who were paid hourly or monthly for the time they spent. So when you purchase that house, you are paying for the time that was involved in the production process. You are paying for the time of the architects, builders, engineers and others that built the house.
Intangible products like services e.g. customer service, medical treatment, nursing treatment are products of time because somebody’s time, was used to create that service and that person was remunerated in cash for it.
So when you understand that nothing can be made outside of time, and the more time you have, the more goods and services you can provide, then your attitude towards time will change.
Because successful people understand that the more time you have the more goods and services you can provide, apart from maximizing their time, they also devise ways to multiply their time by using other people’s time.
LIFE IS CALIBRATED IN TIME
Our life is calibrated in time, i.e. years. A 50-year-old has spent about 438,000 hours of his life (50-years x 365 days x 24 hours). Therefore, to waste one hour of time is to waste an hour of your life. In the words of Charles Darwin; A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.”
This is because life is the sum total of your hours. If you really want to fulfill your life’s purpose, then you need to pay attention to each hour of your life because those hours make up your entire life. And that means every passing second and minute of your life matter because they make up your hours and your life. As the seconds are ticking off, your life time is diminishing. As the minutes are going, your life is being spent!
A keen sense of appreciation of this treasure called time is the first step towards regaining our lost years. You must learn to value and treat time like the successful and wise do.
“Teach us to number our days so that we can apply our hearts to wisdom”.(Psalm 90:12 KJV)
This verse from the scriptures shows that wisdom is about how well we manage our time. If you trivialize time, then you will waste your life. But if you value, treasure and prioritize it, then you will maximize it.
TIME CANNOT BE STOPPED
Time cannot be stopped, or placed on hold as you would do to a car or a phone call. So even if you aren’t ready for time, it keeps ticking. No wonder they say that time waits for no man. It doesn’t wait, it flies.
Successful people understand that since no one can stop time, you have to run with it. Therefore, they fight to keep up with time and invest into time.
Imagine that you are in a race and beside you, on the next track is your opponent called time. He doesn’t get tired and never stops, so how can you effectively compete with such an opponent?
“You may delay, but time will not.” ― Benjamin Franklin
Time will never delay, pause or stop for you so it is important to develop good time management skills so as to compete effectively.
To be continued Tomorrow, don’t miss it.
Excerpts from the Book “HOW TO REGAIN YOUR LOST YEARS”. #DSABOOKS
This book can be found on dsabooksplanet.com and Amazon.com
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, CHURCH AND NATION
By Pastor Sunday Adelaja.
