I have a friend who often corrects my words. When he asks me if I did something he asked me to do, my response is sometimes, “I haven’t made time to do that yet.” This is followed by audible frustration from my friend, who politely but firmly corrects me. “You can’t make time. Time is already made and you can’t make any more of it. You have to TAKE time. You have to DO.”
And when I think about his comments, I realize that he is right. We spend a lot of our time making excuses about what we have or haven’t done. We give our friends or family explanations about our late arrival, inability to attend, or missed, or forgotten task. In some cases the excuses are the result of our own failed attempts to actually do the thing we are asked to do. Regardless of circumstances, it is simply a matter of choosing not to do one thing, so we can do something else. We get caught up in all of those things we think we need to do(the daily grind), and forget to live(that time we can never get back).
Herein lies an age old problem: What is my time worth, am I using my time wisely, and do I understand the value of my actions to my future endeavors?
Actually this is three questions. But they all have an answer we need only look at ourselves to discern. The answer comes when we “do” something. We weigh its result, and judge the value of it in our lives. We look at how much time something took, and judge whether we wasted our time, and we realize that our actions may have created future benefits or caused future problems. If we do nothing, we cannot answer these questions in a positive way.
Take a moment today to do something you were asked to do, or know you need to do. Leave the excuse, “I haven’t had time,” or “I haven’t made time,” and just do.
Not doing something, is an action that has consequences, the same as doing something. Not doing something is not a failure until we factor in the excuse. Remember that when you “try” you fail, and when you “do”, you succeed.
