I was at a seminar last year and the presenter offered a great example of how fast the years go by. She said “Life is like a roll of toilet paper. In the early years it rotates slowly but as the paper gets used, it starts rotating faster till in our later years the toilet roll is really spinning and the years are flying by”. Where did 2016 go? I’m sure it was only 6-7 months long.
Time is one of the few things we can’t get more of. Wealthy people can buy more of just about everything, except time. How much would Kerry Packer have paid for another year?
If it’s so precious, why do we waste it? Why do we float aimlessly through life like leaves in a stream? Why do we spend so much time on the trivial and so little on the major issues that affect our lives?
As our time on earth is limited and if you’re over 50, that toilet roll I mentioned earlier is starting to spin faster, why not start thinking about what’s important to you? Once you have figured that out, the next step is to do something that will help you achieve these goals. It’s no good just day dreaming about it and wishing it would happen. Like anything in life that’s worth having, you’ll need to work at it.
The good news is that if you take some positive action to achieving your goals, you’ll become a happier, more satisfied person. That’s what happens when we have a purpose in life. Having a purpose is particularly important for people who are retired and no longer have their careers to provide them with goals and challenges. Watching a lot of daytime television will turn our brains to mush and take years off our lives.
One word of warning. While it’s great to be pursuing your purpose in life, remember that life is a journey to be enjoyed and not a destination. Don’t spend all your time focused on achieving your goals at some time in the distant future. You may not be around then.
Today is the only time that you can be sure of, so it’s important to live your life in the “present”. The present is where life actually happens. It’s where we can have fun, be spontaneous and enjoy all that we have.
So the take away message is to have some purpose in our lives and strive to achieve what’s important to us, while living in the “present” and making the most of every day we have.