I’ve been thinking a lot about time and what feels like a constant lack of it in my life. There is a lot to juggle between professional and personal obligations and projects not to mention navigating the usual pressures and stresses of life. I’ve been irritated and anxious of late, wondering how I’ll get all of what I need to do… done… with the same hours in the day we all have. 
My self absorbed pity party ended last night when I read recent blog entries from two friends who have a completely different concept of time. Both are facing very serious, life threatening situations that could kill them. That fact puts a whole new light on the meaning of time.
One friend has brain cancer that is especially stubborn but apparently so is he! He has lived lived far past the time doctors thought he would with this type of cancer, however there could be new, worrisome tumor growth which has made him “feel urgency about appreciating feeling good now.”
The other friend faces open heart surgery in less than 36 hours from now to fix some serious issues with her heart which includes an aortic aneurysm that she feared could burst at any time. As she waits for the surgery to repair her heart, she writes that when she wakes up each morning she feels relief that she’s still here and didn’t slip away while sleeping.
My friends, both so wise and awake, are gracefully navigating the ambiguity surrounding their respective circumstances and I can only hope to learn from them. As my friend Sharon writes in her beautiful blog, A Woman with A Heart, :
“It’s so interesting how we talk about time – we make time, take time, manage time, waste time, buy some time, lose track of time, have time on our hands, don’t have enough time, have too many demands on our time – the list could go on. The truth is, every day we all have the same amount of time. And each and every moment of it that our hearts beat and our lungs breathe, they give us the Gift of Time. The way we show up, stay present for, open our hearts to each moment determines the quality of our days. For me-these days-I am aware and grateful for this gift.”
Well said.
Much of what we talk about at End in Mind centers around how we spend our time before we die. I don’t want people to die without having lived so I should take my own advice and take the time right now to enjoy the gift of time given to me.
You should too!
