Are You Using Time or Saving It?

Are you going to spend your day Using your time or Saving it?

As is always the case with me, I take my inspiration from the things that cross my path.  Many times I find it in kind of out-of-the-way places.  My newest piece of wisdom comes from the one and only, Jimmy Buffett.

His book entitled A Pirate Looks At Fifty, is filled with many great lessons and amazing insight.  But, one little gem has always stood out to me. The quote was simple, but hit me in the center of my soul.

“Time is something to be used, not saved.”

These days, there are time-saving devices and inventions that enable us to do a million things at once.  We’ve made everything easier and more time-saving.  Take fitness and strength training for instance.  A great way to get in shape is signing up for a gym membership, but the time-saving and easiness goes even further once you get there.  Treadmills and stationary bikes have individual TV screens that allow you to watch shows, play games…..or even surf the internet.

Can you believe this?  Like many things in life, exercise is supposed to be an escape….a chance to get away and unwind from the stresses of the day.  Sure it’s nice to watch a little television, but are we so time deprived that we really have to take care of business on the internet while getting our exercise done?

This is just one of a whole whack of examples that can be found, where our lives are being overtaken by “time saving” devices.  (Don’t even get me started on the whole driving with a cell phone thing.)  Sure they are neat….Sure they are cool….but are they really something that is going to make your life better?  Time is something to be used….not saved.

I don’t think it is any coincidence that Jimmy Buffett spent most of his life traveling and living around the Caribbean.  Life in this part of the world is definitely enjoyed by using time……in fact, saving time is really not an option around here.

To be honest….most things around here are designed to take you a little more time.  But I know by experience that it is a good thing.  Extra time to think, to reflect, to breathe.

Are you using your time, or saving it?

Use your time today….and there will be no need to save it.  #MakeitHappen.