As many of you will know, I have two children. Harry is 9 and Alfie is 7. Yesterday afternoon, I was going to paint my driveway gates and I didn’t. Instead I spent the afternoon with my boys in the garden. Making dens, playing football, making home made slush puppies (crushed ice, clementine juice and lemon juice – delicious), making more dens and playing more football. I had a wonderful time with them and they were happy and tired (the best combination for small boys!).
Children want our time, nothing else. They can do without things, but they can’t do without our time. I am able at the moment to give them something money can’t buy. Of course, like everyone, I would rather this situation wasn’t happening, but if every cloud has a silver lining, then this is mine. A month ago I would have painted the gates. Yesterday I chose not to.
Bruce Lee once said;
“To spend time is to pass it in a specified manner. To waste time is to expend it thoughtlessly or carelessly. We all have time to either spend or waste and it is our decision what to do with it. But once passed, it is gone forever.”
I’ve always loved that quote, and never has it been more apt. We can’t get time back, but we can choose what to do here and now. Take a moment of quiet reflection – there is always a chance to do something we wouldn’t normally do, or change something we have been meaning to change, no matter what the situation. You just have to find your opportunity.
What’s your silver lining, how are you spending your time and is there anything you would like to change?