Posted October 4, 2023 
Pamela McCown has served in many leadership roles at the club, district and Toastmasters International levels over her 22 year journey in Toastmasters. Some important discoveries she has made are that time is a non-renewable resource and “what gets scheduled, gets done.” A favorite quote from her father is, “I wake up every day, KISS THE ALARM CLOCK, and say, It’s going to be a GREAT day!”
When someone asks you “Do you have the time?” How do you respond?
Do you simply respond with the time of day from your watch or cell phone? Do you respond with the question, “Do I have the time for what?”
There are many uses of the word time. We say that time flies. We take time, save time, spend time, make time. Time is said to heal. Time runs out. Time can be up or time can run out. We can let things steal time, work over time or under time. We can kill time or even lose time.
I submit to you that there are only 24 hours in each day of our life.
No more. No less.
We all say we wish we had more time to do the things we really want to do. Here’s something to assist you in putting your life line into perspective. Look at a yardstick. Consider that this 36 inches represents the years of your life.
Break off 12 inches for the 1/3 of your life that you spend sleeping or in bed; perhaps more than 8 hours of your 24 hour daily time allotment for some. Now you have only 24 inches to live.
Break off another 12 inches for the 1/3 of your life you spend at work and commuting to and from work. (For some, this part of the timeline is more than 8 hours a day.) Now you have only 12 inches of life left to live.
Twelve inches brings this yard stick of life down to a regular 12 inch ruler; one third of your life left to really live.
Break off another inch for the time you spend in unproductive activities like worrying, condemning, criticizing, complaining, gossiping, wishing and hoping that someone will notice you and recognize your uniqueness.
These are just examples of how some of us go through life. Your circumstances may differ from the example; however, you will be able to identify what portions of the yardstick apply to how your time gets broken down hour by hour, minute by minute.
We only have NOW to live. The past is cancelled time. The future is promised time. NOW is the only time that is real. Eleven inches left in our life’s time line to LIVE.
How do you live each of these hours and minutes of your life? Do you wake up each day and simply react to what comes your way?
Wouldn’t it be better if you began to LIVE on PURPOSE giving conscious thought to the way you want to spend the precious and few moments of your life? Wouldn’t you be more effective if you spend your time thinking about how you can be better than you were yesterday? We don’t need to focus on how we MEASURE up to others. We have our own life measuring stick. Let’s spend our time serving others with gladness and live those fleeting minutes with a sense of accomplishment. Smile, be flexible and begin to bless those in your circle of influence and you will be blessed in knowing you have given the best of yourself.
I challenge you to look at life with a sense of urgency and excitement for each new day. We are all given 24 hours in each day.
No more. No less.
DO YOU HAVE THE TIME?
