When we think of value, we often think in terms of monetary value. The value of a house. A car. A watch. What we don’t always consider is the only true value we have in our lives. The only real currency that there is. The one currency that everyone has, some with more, some with less, and many who waste it. When you think about it, time is the only currency we have. You get paid for doing a job that you spend your time on. The more one values that time, the more effort one typically puts into it. When you value something, you take care of it. You understand that what you have is special.

Whether that value is monetary, or even sentimental. You do not take it for granted. Well, some do when it comes to monetary value. The more of something someone has, the less valuable it becomes to them. The less there is of something, the more valuable it becomes. I suppose that is why when we are young, we take time for granted. A teenager does not always value the time they spend with their parents or loved ones, because time is abundant. It is only when that time becomes shorter, that we learn to be grateful for the true value of it.

In most cases, many people coast through life. Day-to-day. Week to week. Month to month. Year after year. One day they wake up and look in the mirror, only to see grey hairs and wrinkles… then left to wonder, “where did all that time go?”. If one is good at managing money, then usually they’ll count every dollar and are wise about where it goes.

If one is slack about it, they typically end up asking themselves, “where did all my money go?” only to remember all the junk food they brought the other day. “Oh yeah, that’s right… did I really need that…?” Well, I know I’ve certainly been there myself. There was a time when I lived day-to-day without thinking. I was on auto pilot most of the time. Stuck in the same routine day in and day out. Get up. Go to work. Come home. Cook dinner. Clean up. Go to bed. Before I knew it, 8 years of my life disappeared. It terrified me when I realized how much time I lost.

The hardest thing about our society today is that is how it must be to survive for many. Many do not have a choice. Or at least, they feel that way. The beauty of being human is that we do always have a choice, even when it feels like we don’t. Save of course for slavery. That is another kettle of fish to unpack there.

We could also go on to talk about how the societal system we do live in is simply another means of slavery. We work to serve a system that does not truly value our time because there are so many of us, we are replaceable. Given just enough to survive pay to pay and not a penny more. We are just another number. Then when we finally get to the age of retirement we can finally enjoy life. Or can we? By then (if we make it to that age) we are old, in pain, likely have health problems and the retirement money usually is only just enough to sustain us let alone do anything that could be deemed as “living life.” Again, however, that is also another kettle of fish to unpack. This article specifically is focusing on the value of time. After all, the last thing we need is to coast along as if in a dream, only to finally wake up on our death bed.

For starters, we need to consider what is truly important to us. Who do you love so much the world would stop turning if you lost them tomorrow? Is it your parents? children? partner? Take the time to truly meditate on this. On them… Even despite any residual issues (e.g. family drama). Yes there are always complications and every situation is unique.

What would it take for you to mend that bridge? Would you put aside your pride for the sake of telling that person you love them? If you lost them tomorrow, would you regret not doing everything in your power to fix it? Would you regret not taking that single second to kiss them goodbye and tell them how much they mean to you? Would you regret taking precious moments for granted? Without ever truly stopping to breathe it in, absorbing every sound, smell, sound of laughter and the feeling associated with that moment? It could be as simple as family dinner time. Or watching the game together.

Every moment is precious. It simply depends on how present one is during that moment. To look around at the people around you, the ones you think you could never live without. Memorizing every detail of their face. Of the sound of their laughter. Be open and brave, say to them “that is why I love you.” or “you are so special to me.” There will always be those family members we can only tolerate for a short while because they do such and such that irritates us or gets under our skin. That is perfectly natural. You need not live in their pocket to take even a short moment every now and then to appreciate a person. It could be when Mum or Wife is nagging at you for something, you realize that when she is no longer around to nag you, that you might even miss the nagging someday.

When we have spent so much of our time on auto-pilot, it can sometimes be hard to learn to be present. To practice gratitude in the presence is to provide your soul with appreciation and happiness. It is to stop for a moment, to think of the people we love, to think of the places we admire and the things we enjoy. It is taking a moment to feel that moment in it’s entirety for no reason than it is today, and it may not be there tomorrow. To breathe and slow down your own mind enough to see and feel everything happening around you. Every time we do that, we wire our brains to see more. To feel more. To hear more. Not only does this increase your connection with those around you, it also provides multiple long-term benefits to your general brain function. It is in a way training your own brain to take note of your surroundings. Committing it to memory. Not only does this increase our ability to be more present, it also strengthens multiple pathways that are beneficial to many parts of the brain. There are plenty of articles that deeply divulge into addressing the many benefits practicing gratitude can have. Click here if you would like to read a more detailed report on the scientific analysis and how gratitude has an effect on the brain. This site is all about perspective after all. When we look at someone and all we think is “you are so annoying.” or “ugh, here we go, another story…” our thought translates into feeling, That feeling gets stored away as a seed. Every time we think another related thought, it waters the seed and can cause resentment to grow stronger over time. The opposite is also true. When we pause to think something positive about a person, then that in turn feeds the positive feelings we have towards that person. The more of those we have, the stronger our neural pathways become for appreciation. The more we appreciate, the more we see. When we see more, we can make better decisions that are more fulfilling for us, as well as others around us.

List of ways to practice gratitude:

• This ones’s a no brainer: Keep a gratitude journal. Write in it 10 things you are grateful for each day. It could be specific things about a person or event, or a number of different random things.
• Gratitude Triggers: Make a mental note that whenever someone you love approaches you, take a single moment to appreciate something about them. It could be that they are always looking out for you. That they are kind or always feed you.
• Set an alarm on your phone for random times of the day, no matter what you are doing you must find something around you that you are grateful for. It could be as simple as you love the way your favorite pen feels to write with. Or you are grateful for your cozy home. Or that piece of artwork on your walls.
• Make it a goal to tell 1 person each day something you appreciate about them. “Thank you for always taking time to make me a coffee too.” or “I love that you are so passionate.” or “your smile brightens my day.” It strengthens positive bonds between you both, and will likely make their day!

There are probably lots of different ways to practice gratitude! Play around with different things you can do, even if it’s as simple as taking a deep breath and simply looking around you. Just being fully present thinking about why it makes you happy also counts.

Once you learn how precious time is, you begin to notice every moment of your day. You realize how fast a day can fly by. How few days there are in a year. How few years you truly have to achieve the things you want to achieve, or be with the people you want to be with. You also begin to see when certain people are worth your time, and when they are not. Just because you love someone, does not always mean they deserve all your time. Just because you don’t love someone, doesn’t mean they are not worth a single minute of your time either. I speak a lot about balance, and time is the most tricky of all to balance. Finding the correct balance to spend time between yourself, others, making money, social media and the minutes in between. We could spend our whole lives trying to perfect the balance, only to be completely thrown off the cart when we hit a bump in the road. Bumps are perfectly natural. Bumps are life. If life were easy and predictable, we probably wouldn’t feel the need to read inspirational blogs such as this one.

The best we can do, is figure out how much time we spend on things that are necessary and the things that are not. Then we can define what necessary means to us. Obviously, making money is necessary to feed the family, but is it necessary for the house to be spotless every night? Is it more important to spend a little time helping the kids with their homework than getting the dishes done? Or can you streamline it and make it a family task done together to clean up each night before sitting down to do half an hour of homework together? What tasks can you combine to save time, and what areas of your life need time to be made for them? Perhaps you have been meaning to visit that aunt down the road. Can you organize a night where your aunt comes to join the family for dinner one night? Then everyone pitches in to clean up together.

Although we can’t always see it at first, there are always ways to streamline our tasks in a day to become more productive and maximize our time spent. I always find writing things down to be helpful. Write out your usual day, from start to finish. Do it as a week thing if you find it easier. Now write down what your ideal week would look like if you were to make the most of every moment and include the things you want to include.

Look at the amount of time you spend. Pretend it is a currency and you must spend each minute wisely. Are there things you would like to incorporate into your day? Are there things you could remove or decrease from your day? Could it be for learning a new skill? Or spending more time with loved ones? For example, I wanted to make sure I spent more time with my Dad and Nana, so every Thursday I cook and take a meal out to their place and we play a game of Cribbage together. I gave up watching T.V Thursday nights. It was easy once I realized they are more important than watching T.V. I am grateful that I get to spend that time with them and it is now the highlight of my week. I know time with them is precious, and the last thing I want is to look back and think “I should have made time for them…”

Naturally, not everyone we love or want to spend time with is always good for us mentally. Sometimes even physically. Life is about balance after all. Learning who helps us become better versions of ourselves, and learning whom we must be careful with our time. The only question left to ask, is who will you give your time to? Only you know how to spend your time with whom doing what. Nobody can tell you that part. You must use your own discretion when it comes to making those choices as each answer is unique from person to person. Learning how valuable time is will go a long way towards helping you achieve whatever it is you decide to spend your time on. Never forget, that time is not infinite. All we have is right now, and there is so much be learned, felt, and so many more moments to appreciate while we can. We just have to be present enough to see it.

I hope this was helpful dear Reader, until next time.