The Gold in Our Hands
June 12th, 2008
“The Gold in Our Hands”
All men are equal in that we, regardless of looks, wealth, health, sex, creed, affiliation, ethnic or cultural background, etc., all have 24 hours each day to live our lives the way we see fit.
The caveat is in the phrase “the way we see fit.” For the manner by which we use our 24 hrs, will determine whether we will fare well in life or continue to just crawl along.
Today is one of those days that my mind is as thick as lead. Nothing goes in or out, and I have practically accepted the inevitability of a blog-less day. Until my short chat with a friend in the lunch queue led me to write about:
Time, that highly perishable gold in our hands.
While waiting for our turn at the counter, I asked her, “Can you imagine what it is to be really doing nothing?” Before she can even utter a word, I found myself answering that question.
Nobody can really be doing “nothing.”
Some young people in my late wife’s hometown wake up around 10 a.m., with bad hangovers. Their lunch will be late and by sundown, they will again be drinking to get drunk, repeating the cycle of yesterday and many other yesterdays. Yet, it can be argued, that they are doing “something.”
Conversely, the highest paid executive in Asia barely has 4 hrs to sleep each day. The hours in between are crammed with work and work and work. Whatever time he has for leisure is probably no bigger than a postage stamp. He, too, is definitely doing “something.”
In between these two extremes are people, like you and me, who are practically chasing that precious time, lest our chores for the morrow will be nothing but the undone chores of today.
Not wishing to get lost in words over whatever that “something” means to people, it is best to get a metaphor from a candle. Practically useless when unlit, highly consumable if lit. But only when it is lit that it can be doing something. Either to light the bearer’s path that he may walk true and straight or, nobler still, to light the path of others that they may not stumble and fall.
While it is true that some candles, due to some destined ends, loose their glow before they are spent, others will burn through its wick. But its purpose is not anchored on how long it will last but on the intensity and consistency of the light it provides while it does.
Sorry is he who uses it to look for the traps and snares, rather than straight and narrow path of life.
