Time is Money!

When I asked my hubby, a recovered gamer who used to carry his own Xbox controller wherever he went, why he stopped playing video games, he tells me, that he realized he was being robbed of his time.  Even after 10 hours of Halo, or Metal Gear (or whatever was out at the time) nothing in his life was being accomplished.  Plus, for every new game, it would cost him approximately 2 hours of phone answering/circuit checking/boss loathing at work.  So with that in mind, he pushed the game system to the back of the entertainment unit and let it gather dust.  Seeing time this way, it's become easier to recognize the real value of our time.

There are only 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year.  A 40 hour work week takes up about 25% of that.  We pay for conveniences to get some of that time back, but it seems to never be enough of the other important stuff:  sleeping, eating, playing, relaxing and growing with yourself, your friends and your family.


A friend shared a story with me about an elderly woman who took 1 week to make 2 sacks to sell at her market to support her family.  Wanting to make a difference, a couple of American students decided to give her a sewing machine to improve her living condition.  A month or so later, the eager philanthropists wanted to see the impact of their generosity, and were surprised to find that the woman was still making and selling 2 sacks per week.  Confused the students asked if she used the machine at all.  The woman, explains that now that she has the sewing machine, she can make the 2 sacks faster and can spend more of her time doing the things that mattered to her the most.  The woman in the story did not wait for accumulated wealth to improve her life, instead, she prioritized her values and improved her quality of life immediately.


Last night, I saw In Time, a sci-fi, futuristic Bonnie and Clyde where time was the currency.  People exchanging minutes of their lives for a sandwich, two hours for a bus ride, a month for toll bridge, etc.  With that in mind, not only do things such as video games consume your day, but perhaps it also knocks off a few years off your life.