Your time bank account

Authors J Chambers and Jan Roberts.

Imagine there is a bank, which credits your account each morning with $86,400,it carries over no balance from day to day, allows you to keep no cash, and every evening cancels whatever part of the amount you had failed to use during the day. What would you do? – Draw out every dollar of course!

Well, everyone has such a bank. Its name is Time. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to a good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the records for the day. If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against the “tomorrow”

That’s the reality for every one of us – plain and simple! When it’s stated n this bald-faced way it should give each of us a cause for pause, reflect and ask ourselves the question. How do I best deal with this precious account?

It actually doesn’t mean filling each second with busy-busy activities. Rather each one of those 86,400 seconds that we are gifted every morning, should be expended with care and consideration. Acting with integrity and in a way that is true to ourselves is a great starting place to ensure that time is spent wisely. This may mean re-thinking the job that we do, reviewing what friendships we maintain and whether current relationships might or might not sustain and nurture us.

Our thoughts, just as much as our actions need careful scrutiny. Remember that every night the bank will write off whatever we have failed to invest in good purpose. If we find ourselves stuck in regret about past actions, obsessing about revenge for a hurt or betrayal , worrying about what people think of us – it’s time to change course. An attitude of gratitude works wonders here – saying thanks for all the ups (and downs) can easily become your default position as the reverse. Life wasn’t meant to be an endless pleasure cruise, but letting go of all the hurts, seeing them for the learning we gain, the wisdom we acquire can give them an entirely new complexion

To sum it up – there is never, ‘not enough time’ or ‘too much time.’ Time management  is decided by us alone and nobody else. Therefore, lets make a conscious decision and affirm every night before sleep. “On every single day, I will do whatever it takes to draw out every single dollar in my time account.”