Friday, November 2, 2007

I was thinking about time this morning. This is the only thing I truly have to give in my life. It is interesting that we give most of our time in the pursuit of earning money. We get embroiled in the companies we work for and think nothing of working harder or putting in more hours. We feel sure that all of this extra effort will not go unnoticed and at some stage it will pay in off in a better job where we will work harder still. Interestingly enough we don’t usually look at the converse. Most of us have 2 main commitments in our lives work and family. Sure there may also be other serious passions or studies in your life but I would imagine that work and family are the two that take up the majority of time. Why do we never think about working harder on our family, why is it so difficult to put in more hours at home? Do we believe that extra effort spent at home is worth less than the extra effort at work?

I would love to look at time from another angle. How about if we measured time as our ability to do good? How would we then view the demands on our time? I would then have to look at how I am spending time and judge if I am doing good things (and by good things I mean things that benefit others). If I am not doing good, then I am wasting goodness (rather than money). Sure I will have to put in time to earn money but then any time spent after I have generated enough to cover the bills would be wasted goodness. Wasted goodness bothers me on many more levels than wasted opportunities to make money…How cool would it be if you could combine your job to both earn you enough and be a work of goodness? Surely there are people out there who have made this happen?

Have you ever just found yourself hanging around at a function, a bar, work or some event wondering what you are doing there? If this happens to you (and it happens to me frequently) – you already know the answer – you are wasting your time. Pick up your feet and go and do the things that you should be doing!

If just you and I focused on doing good with our time – could we change this world??

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi, great blog!

I wish more men would see the faces of their children eagerly waiting for their return from work, only to go to bed totally dissapointed, once again, without having seen dad.

I wish more men would value the family they have as much as the value their jobs.

I wish more men would be bold enough to stand up to the system and fight for their families as eagerly and as willing as they are able to stand up to their families and fight for their jobs.

I wish more men would see the sand slowly slipping down the sides of the hour glass, as moments in time slipping through their hands, lost forever, un-repeatable, life moments.

I wish more men would awake to know that there is life outside of work, and being with family can be fun - if you make the effort.

I wish you all the success with your adventure, may it be all you hope for - and more.

Viv Kelly

Mark Eames said...

Hi Viv,

I like this a lot - can I quote you? Are you the author?

Thank you too for the well wishes - it is going to be one hell of a ride!