The Most Precious Commodity

One of Ben Franklin's most famous aphorisms is the one about time is money. I have always taken that to mean, and possibly this was Franklin's main intent, that an industrious person should be spending their time making money. But it just occurred to me that perhaps this was not his only or even main intent, and regardless it's not how I am taking it. Time is not literally money, but is like money in that it is a valuable commodity. It is something that like money, has value in that it allows us to enjoy things worth enjoying in life. Unlike money time is a finite resource, and whether time is on our side or we are living on borrowed time, we only get so much of it for so long and none of us know how long that might be. You can't borrow it, nor can you beg for it or steal it. Like loaning money to certain friends, once it's gone you can't get it back. Unlike currency it's granted in equal amounts to everyone, the rich and poor alike. It can be measured but it can't be stopped or put on hold, because of course time waits for no one. So how you spend it ultimately determines the quality of your life.

Which is what got me thinking about the subject in the first place, a reflection of how I've spent my time and how I plan on spending my time. I've chosen in my life to spend my time on my terms. I've chosen to be a high school teacher, a job that doesn't provide an inordinate amount of money but sure as heck provides a good deal of valuable time. I've used that time to be active in the raising of my kids, to spend many quality moments with them and with my wife. I've used it to spend part of my summer vacations up in the Sierra's with my kids and my parents, one of my favorite things to do and one of my favorite places in the world. I've used to it to relax, to refresh, often times wasting it on the mundane, but more and more of late using it to enrich my life and that of those around me by reading more, writing more, and listening, watching, and thinking about the stuff of life that motivates and inspires.

The older I get, the more precious of a commodity time becomes, and the more I realize how limited it ultimately is. When you are young time is as seemingly endless as an Arizona summer, or an Iowa winter. There is no sense of urgency because there will always be more time to do the things you want to do, to pursue the plans and dreams that keep our fires stoked. I don't know what it's like being old because I haven't gotten there yet, I imagine that it will be a time of greater reflection and much greater urgency, knowing that the days are getting numbered. I'm in the middle of life, not middle-aged quite yet, but certainly not a kid anymore. I can reflect on a good deal of my life, things I regret doing or not doing, things I'm glad I did, and many many things I still hope and plan to do. I'm at a point in life where I can appreciate how little I really know about anything and how vast the amount of knowledge there is that is out there for the taking. I've accepted that I'll never learn all I want to, read every book I'd like to, or travel to all the corners of the earth that beckon, but if I can just hit a portion of all that is out there I'll have lived a fulfilling and satisfying life. I realize that I've wasted a good deal of time, but that I still have a good deal left, and I have a much greater appreciation of what's important in life, and a better understanding of how to utilize my time to best take advantage of that knowledge.

One thing I won't spend more time than necessary on is making money. Don't get me wrong, I believe in the value of hard work, and a certain level of money is required to pay the bills and live a certain lifestyle. I'm not a Tibetan monk with no interest in material goods or services. I enjoy a good meal out every once in awhile, or taking in a show or a ballgame, I like to have nice clothes, I'd like to be able to travel, the kids always have activities that require busting out the checkbook yet again, so money is often an object. But in the great series of trade-offs that is life, I've made the decision, one that I am quite pleased with, to accept less money for more time. More time to do the things that I enjoy doing in life. More time to have a real relationship with my wife, my partner in the journey and best friend. More time to spend with my son, who at 13 is still interested in spending his time with his old dad, whether it be watching a ball game together, working out at the gym, or just hanging out. More time to spend with my daughter, who at almost 11 is busy with much in her life, her many activities and numerous friends, but who still can take the time to share with me the things she loves and to ask questions and to grace me with her charming presence. More time to exercise my body, my mind, and my spirit. More time to pursue my writing, and to read whatever I can get my hands on. More time to listen to good music, to watch good movies and plays, and TV shows as well. More time to observe, to reflect, to understand, and to hopefully relate all that I can take in.

So time is much more than money really. Franklin was on the right track, or again, maybe he was referring to this all along and it was our own industrial age mentality and Calvinist work ethic that took his words to mean what we wanted them too. Franklin certainly was one who made the most of his time, he was a true Enlightenment figure, with multiple interests and talents and a desire to see society become better and more true to what God intended for us. When you strip away all the material aspects of life, and get down to what really matters, for me it comes down to the people you have been blessed with and the time you have to spend. To quote another great philosopher of the modern age, Eric Clapton, it's in the way that you use it. Here's to using it wisely, to getting the most out of it, to making it last as long as we can, because eventually we come to the end of our time. When I do, I hope that I can look back on a life well lived, with no regrets, and with a smile on my face that says that I got the most I could out of life and hopefully left the world a bit better than I found it.