Having the Right Understanding of Time

Time, my friend, is the one thing Bill Gates, Carlos Slim, Warren Buffett, and Aliko Dangote do not have more than you. Everyone's day has 24 hours, regardless of who you are. 

image: cmich.edu

In today's post I'm going to show you the right way to think about time.

Since Time is universal and equally distributed, I can safely use myself as a case study. 

So here we go. 
I have got a limited amount of Time: safe to say, not more than 100 years. I have spent some already (equal to my age). I don't know how much Time I have left on earth; all I know is that I don't have up to 100 years left. And the worrisome part is I have little influence over how much Time I have left. Beyond avoiding activities and habits, and maybe a place like Lagos, that can make me die young, there is nothing I can do to get all the Time possible (e.g. living up to 100 years old). 
I have got 365 days in a regular year and 366 days in a leap year. I have 24 hours a day. 60 mins in every hour. And I can't change it a bit. I can't add a single hour on top of my year. I've got the same as everyone.

Ok. I have talked about all the things I can't change or influence about the Time I have. Now I'll move on to the things I can change or influence.

If I eat well and live a healthy life, I might end up not spending any of my precious time in a hospital. If I remain cool headed and law abiding (as I perfectly am), I won't have to spend any year locked up in a tiny prison cell. If I'm very careful in choosing my friends and work (ultimately, colleagues too), I will never feel like I have wasted any moment of my precious Time. If I use you my head, I can turn part of my Time to cool cash. And if I live right, I'm sure to get the most of my Time on earth.

So based on the statements above, I believe the following are the right way to view Time:

1. Time is Life.
2. William Shakespeare lived for 34 years, and the world is still in awe of him. It's never about the number of years you get, but the use you put them to.
3. Now is all you have: the past is gone, and today was yesterday's future/tomorrow. Every day you make the most of is not just a day well spent, but a future well spent.
4. Time is more than money. If you keep exchanging your time for money, you are cheating yourself. There so many things you can do with your time that are priceless, that can't be quantified in Naira. And never make the mistake of thinking Joe spent his time better than Jack because Joe is richer. Mother Theresa spent her time in the best way anybody could or hope to.
5. If you go to bed very happy and wake up full of energy everyday, then you're spending your time right. The Time you have is yours, and like your money, no one has the right to decide the best way to spend it. Stop comparing yourself to every celebrity your age or trying to live up to someone else's expectations, except you are convinced that it's the best way to spend your Time (Life).

And if you're religious like me, always remember that God owns your Time (Life).