You may notice that time and how busy we have been, has been on my mind quite a bit lately. Today is no exception. As I have been sitting at my computer this morning editing a new YouTube video my alarm has been going off reminding me to write my blog post. I have a couple of pictures that need to be edited, and we are in the middle of putting up wood for the winter, which is our one and only source of heat. Last night I missed a dinner with my youngest son who is in Anchorage for his school orientation week. It was an evening for parents to come and learn more about what the kids were doing, eat dinner, and enjoy some entertainment, which my son told me was a native dance presentation. It would have been a fun evening, but we were out cutting wood and completely spaced it out until it was too late to try and make it.
Time is an interesting thing. We often think of money as being the reason we do things, and often it is the reason. We work and work trying to make enough money so that we don’t have to work so hard later, but in the meantime, we miss out on the time that is slipping away with those things that matter more than making money, money only has the value that society places on it. It’s just paper. But time is the one thing we are all given to utilize however we so choose, and it is the one thing that seems to be wasted the most. Sometimes I look back at my life years ago. I would think it would be nice to do this or that but think of the time commitment and decided that the several years it would take me to accomplish whatever it was, was too long so I wouldn’t even start! I am now on the flip side of that, not having progressed in some areas of my life like I could have. looking back at that time, which really wasn’t that long, and wondering what I had accomplished instead, because it could have been so much more if I had utilized my time more wisely.
It really is interesting how the passing of time changes our priorities though. I love my life now. I have had so many adventures, challenges, ups and downs. And through it all I have learned a lot about what is important to me. When I was younger it had a lot more to do with money and stuff. I thought money and stuff would bring happiness and ease. I have learned that is not always the case. Our paycheck doesn’t guarantee anything, especially not happiness, and depending on how we spend it, it may not create ease either.
Over the years my goals have shifted away from money and stuff and turned more inward, to family and relationships, peace of mind and heart, memories, especially the kind that don’t cost money, they are usually the best kind anyway. These things don’t require anything more than time for the most part, but they are the things I look forward to the most. As my kids are starting to leave home, the memories are sweeter, and when they come home to visit, the laughter deeper. Most of my kids are still home, but they are not little anymore, they don’t spend as much time at home, and will be leaving sooner than later. I want to utilize the time we have more wisely, which involves more time not money. Last night as most of us worked together on cutting wood we missed the ones who weren’t there, not just for the help, but the fun involved. We laughed together, and maybe got a little carried away with the spray paint, but we spent time, and we made memories.
I love the quote at the top. Our time here is priceless and spending it going down one path means we won’t be going down a different path. We don’t have enough time to do everything in this wonderful world that we would probably like to do, so we need to look at our priorities, look at what’s really important to us, and then utilize the time we have here to accomplish those things. We should get to the end of our lives having utilized our time wisely, because we can never get it back.
Stephanie Richey Art 
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