Deep Thinking on a Hot Sunday Afternoon

Lately I have been puzzling over the concept of time. According to our tools of measurement, time is very precise and cannot be altered. 365 days in a year, 52 weeks, 7 days in a week, 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour, 60 seconds in a minute .....

Then how does it slow down when you are sitting in the dentist's chair with a drill boring through your jaw? or speed up when you are late? A memory of 20 years ago can feel like yesterday, and yesterday can seem like an eternity. Time is relative, relatively speaking, or so it seems.

Time is not the only unit by which we measure our lives. Money, finances, wealth, debt, cash flow, investments, earnings, assets, liabilities, all are supposed to tell us our net worth. It's all there in black and white, just like the clock or the calendar. It is or it isn't. The balance at the end of the page doesn't lie. But it doesn't tell the whole story either.

When I was 16 and had $100 in my pocket I was rich! Today, $100 in my pocket and I am worried. A $10 movie ticket can be a bargain, or it can be a rip off. It all depends on the quality of your experience for that $10. Rent in Hawaii is expensive, but much more affordable than taking a 5 year vacation to Hawaii. Is a pair of shoes really worth $60 bucks? how about $100? $200? or even $5? I have a pair of shoes I thought were cute, cost me 5 bucks, but they hurt my feet. They are worth a negative $200. Monetary worth is relative.

Have you ever thought about what makes money valuable? It's just paper. Special paper of course, but still, just paper. It can be easily destroyed. It's the agreement that society accepts it that attaches the value. It's based on gold, right? Or it was at one point. What gives gold value? It's pretty, looks great next to your skin when you have a tan, but why is it more valuable than say, turquoise? It's a pretty color too. What makes jewels worth millions and a pack of ramen noodles worth a quarter? If we were to experience a disaster, what would you value? Gold or food? Jewels or water? A big house or a way to safety? Worth is relative.

If someone told you that there were $20 bills hidden all over town, you just had to go find them, would you go? How much time would you spend looking for those $2o bills? An hour? Two hours? All day? Would you take a job for less than $10/hour? Would you cut out a coupon to save 50 cents and then drive across town, taking an extra 30 minutes of your life to use it? What is your time worth? How much do you value each day, each hour, of your life?

Scripture tells us to use our talents wisely. Talents can be time, and talents can mean money. I think they are the same.

I like to be efficient. I like to be organized, and have a plan. I don't like to waste time and I don't like to waste money. Sometimes in my desire to save time, or save money, I miss the moment, miss the opportunity to enjoy, or grow, or whatever. My fear and indecision keep me from action, which is opportunity lost, time wasted.

I am changing how I think about time and money. I want to figure this out and make real, lasting change.