Most Precious Currency

The startling truth is that I drafted this blog post a week before the passing of Robin Williams, the world's funniest hero. I am choosing to still publish it anyway, because Robin's passing changed by opinion of the below post. 

There is a universal currency which we all have. We all have the same amount, although it might be measured differently. On some days, we want more of it. Other days, we wish it could quickly pass us by.

This currency is time. Every day has such a limited amount of it. Each lifetime depends on the luxurious supply of it. Don't take time for granted. It's slipping away. Carefully choose how you use each minute you have on this earth. We all have goals for our time, be it productivity or bucket lists.

There are two types of ways to spend time: things we have to do, and things we want to do. Balance is definitely needed between the two. Serve your most profitable commitments. But also find time for the people who make you happy. I struggle every day with the balance between my two loves: friends and work.

I recently found myself sitting in a hospital waiting room with a friend, in the middle of the night, on a week day. I left the hospital early enough to still achieve all the work I needed. My energy didn't die out entirely. But that evening was still spent serving someone else, instead of working on something at 11pm. This was a chosen trade off. A guilty feeling is still lingering after the thought of switching away from the email inbox for an hour. But it was worth it. If I was in hospital, if something was wrong with me, I would be grateful to whoever is there. So I should do the same for others.

There are also conflicts of balance to resolve in the professional realm. We all have different priorities. My passions to balance are: the desire to learn, and the desire to help others with current skills or gifts. I definitely feel a need to learn better writing styles, and understand the processes or theories behind writing. But this study needs to be just a side project besides more profitable work.

This above ideas are what I wrote a week or two ago. And I actually want to step back from this idea of treasuring every moment like it could be your last. That puts far too much pressure on the present second.  

Robin could have knew he was filming his last scene. He must have perhaps had his last conversation, a last meal, whatever he did last before he was gone. You can't go treating everything like it is the last time.  

I went through a phase of treating every conversation with a loved one, as though I would never hear from that person again. That placed so much pressure to have the 'perfect conversation.' 

Should we really treat time like it is sand slipping through our fingers? Or should we just trust that more of it will exist when we need it? Time is more like a renewable resource than a perishable good. We will have just as much as we are meant to. No more, no less. 

Instead of always living life like it was your last day, just live life. That's it. Just live like you know you should. Don't let a fear of the future change your present. 




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