The Wisdom of Time
Time is a funny thing. When you are young, you think time is unlimited—that is passes too slowly. But as we grow and learn to maneuver the curve balls life throws at us, we begin to understand that time is not endless and sometimes, it frankly moves too quickly. And then, there are those moments—those experiences— that stop you in your tracks and force you to face the absolute realization that time is limited; that every second is a gift, and each breath we take is one more moment we have to live life and share it with our loved ones.
My life has been full these life altering moments that have forced me to face the restrictions of time. But as a result, I've come to cherish life and all it's ups and downs. Don't get me wrong, I get very frustrated with the curve balls, but I've learned that how I respond to them makes all the difference towards my own perception of the moment and directly effects the outcome of the situation. For instance, my bathroom shower sprung a leak and caused a hole in my remodeled kitchen! What a terrible moment this was for my husband and I. We quickly sprung into action to mitigate the leak. We took deep breaths and assessed our predicament. After analyzing the situation, we decided it was time for us to remodel the room. Our house is old and we had been putting off renovating the bathroom because we just didn't want to spend the money or deal with the hassle. But in looking at the situation, we realized that this might be the start of our master bath falling apart and a band aid would not prevent more issues from occurring. So we chose to listen to our house and are now in midst of remodeling the bathroom. I'm not thrilled about the added cost this means for us, but I am excited to have a new master bath! We took the opportunity to turn a terrible situation into a positive experience. We didn't plan to remodel our home right now. It wasn't in the budget. The timing is terrible—we already have so much going on and of course, remodeling anything in today's covid market is extra pricey, but life happened! Why not make the best of it?
I'm sharing this situation with you because I think it is important to think about time and how we respond to experiences with in our lives. If we spend our time worrying and festering about our problems and how we were wronged or hurt, we miss the opportunity to see the hidden gems within each situation. We put blinders on ourselves. I don't want to live behind blinders. I want the full experience of life’s beauty. Understanding this beauty means learning to cope with both the good and the bad — to keep moving forward with life in a positive manner. We can't hit the pause button. There is no rewind. There is only now. Proverbs 27:1 states, “do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.” We are not guaranteed tomorrow or even an hour from now. We must learn to live in the present.
In the book of Psalms, King David wrote, “teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalms 90:12). Are you numbering your days? Are you living life in the fullest manner you can? Do you take time to cherish the little treasures each day presents you with —your child telling you he loves you; a loving look from your spouse; a coworker unexpectedly helping with a task; a stranger holding the door for you; finding $10 in an old pair of jeans? Are you taking bad situations and finding the silver lining — like turning a leaking hole in your kitchen ceiling into a reason to remodel your bathroom? Life is too precious and too short to let it pass us by. So I urge you to live your life to its fullest. Embrace its beauty and allow Jesus to number your days so that you may be filled with a heart of wisdom.