2013: It’s Time
“If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I’d like to do
Is to save every day ‘til Eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you.”*
I first heard those words, from the song “Time In A Bottle” by the late Jim Croce, when I was just a teenager. You know. When Time seems to GO ON FOREVER.
Whether I was waiting for my birthday; waiting for summer vacation; waiting for Christmas; or waiting for my mom to “Please. Get. Off. The. Phone.”… so that cute guy from school could call, I was constantly trying to rush the clock—force the calendar—move the day.
Time was this surplus of space that just got in the way of what I wanted to do.
Now, I get it. Time is not the enemy. Time is our friend. Time is the friend that provides us with the necessary pauses in our otherwise full-tilt lifestyle that robs us of… well, robs us of Time. I understand at 54 what I wish I’d understood at 34… or even 24.
Time does not GO ON FOREVER. Instead of hurrying the hours, we should savor them, embrace them…. and live them fully, completely and passionately.
Today marks the beginning of a new Time.
It’s the very first day of the year 2013. You’ve probably already bought your new calendar or planner. You’ve probably already begun to fill in the blank spaces with important appointments, tasks and duties. You may be shaking your head as you do this, saying to yourself, “I just don’t have ENOUGH time!”
Jim Croce wrote and sang about that too, in these words from Time In A Bottle:
“But, there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them.”*
H. Jackson Brown, author of “Life’s Little Instruction Book” might disagree. I recently read this quote by Brown:
“Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo Da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein.”
The question is… what are you going to DO with that Time?
This year, my challenge to you is this: strive to not only become better at scheduling your Time. Become better at the way you are spending your Time.
Don’t save Time in a bottle. Pour it out. Drink it up. Don’t rush the minutes and the hours of your Time. Don’t curse the passing of Time. Don’t take for granted the gift of your Time.
Instead, take Time.
Take Time to:
- take a breath
- grab someone’s hand
- go for a walk
- watch a sunrise
- cultivate a friendship
- learn a new language
- take up a hobby
- volunteer at a shelter
- rock a baby
- visit a shut-in
- laugh
- love
- live
It’s Time.
Postscript: Jim Croce never knew that his song “Time In A Bottle” became a hit. He died in a plane crash eight days after the song was featured in a made-for-TV movie, which sent it all skyrocketing the way to number one on the charts… way back in 1973. Although it sounds like a song that would have been written to or about a lover, Croce actually wrote “Time In A Bottle” for his unborn child, shortly after his wife told him she was pregnant. If you’ve never heard the song, take the TIME to listen to it here: Time In A Bottle-Jim Croce
If you have heard it… Listen to it again. It will be Time well spent.