Odd, isn’t it, that in welcoming a new year, our most precious and often unappreciated commodity is time.
Not necessarily time gone by but time waiting to be lived. How many of us would welcome a new day, even another hour, to make the most of our situation?
How many regret the waste, the idle moments, when we have nothing to show for our day? And then we wish upon ourselves that we may make better use of our time.
Like they say, some people count time while others make time count. I’m somewhere in between. Though I try to live a practical life, sometimes I’m caught in arrears.
Now that we’re into a new year, perhaps some changes are in order. Maybe I should set a few priorities straight. If I cut my sleeping time short an hour, that would give me seven whole hours to devote elsewhere.
I do not need eight hours of sleep every night and could get along perfectly well with seven. That would give me enough time to read a book, visit a friend or relative, perhaps get an errand or two done. Or surprise my family by preparing a meal, even though I am not a good cook.
Why, I can even take a class at my community college, volunteer some of that accumulated time, or devote a little extra effort to my church.
I could visit the sick in a hospital or the infirmed inside a nursing home, maybe take a day trip to someplace scenic with my camera in tow.
Some of us lead such busy lives, we wonder where the time goes. Others idle away the time and wish they had done something a bit more productive than spending the day as a couch potato.
Time is fragile, folks. It can break at any moment.
I started my New Year’s celebration a week early this year by counting my blessings and making the rounds at a nursing home in my city. My first visit was to a man who, only a week before, was an active 85-year-old World War II veteran.
He kept himself in decent shape and was planning a Christmas celebration with his family when fate dealt him a bad hand. He was out in the pool area one evening trying to scoop up some water from a tarp when he suddenly suffered a stroke and fell in.
By some miracle, he managed to crawl himself out and into the house before his son arrived and called an ambulance. Now he’s facing months of therapy.
“I’m very lucky to be alive,” he told me. “Go figure. I survived a war and lived a long and happy life. Guess God wants me to stick around a little bit longer.”
My second visit was to a woman who attends my church. We were all set to attend a wedding together that week. She had her new dress all laid out and couldn’t stop talking about the invitation. A couple days before the wedding, she got up from the table and stumbled to the floor, breaking a hip.
The next day, she was having surgery, thankful it wasn’t worse.
A third visit was to a dear friend who’s been institutionalized for a few years now. We talked about our mutual associations and an upcoming visit to Disney World for my 50th wedding anniversary. It was a moment embraced by time.
My fourth encounter came up empty at first before finding the resident inside the lobby area greeting her public. Rather than stay inside her room, she was roaming the corridors wishing everyone a happy day. In doing so, she also puts on a happy face.
In church, I use my time to pray and reflect. I take in the sermon and read scriptures in my Armenian alphabet that dates back 1,700 years. It’s one way I can take command of a classical language and impart that knowledge to the students I teach each Sunday.
My commutes are always joined by good music. Sometimes, I’ll plug in a book if I’m alone and use my drive time a bit more constructively. I do not condone people who are glued to their cell phones while driving.
I usually have a book in my company, perfect for waiting to see the doctor or waiting in a long line. Multi-tasking has become somewhat of a habit these days. I usually work out a crossword puzzle while listening to the news and escaping the tedious commercials.
The coming year will usher in a couple milestones for me. Hopefully, I’ll make it to 75 years in September. Our 50th anniversary in February will be celebrated with family, including four grandchildren. Plans have already been made.
May your year be as time-consumed as mine.
Tom Vartabedian
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we do need to do something other tham breathe eat and watch TV blink your eyes once 1/4 of your life is gone blink twice another etc time flies faster the older you get but its not over till the big guy in the sky says it is so LIVE