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Writer's pictureMarianne Crooch

Lost Seconds

Do you know how many seconds are in a day? 86,400! Does that make your mind spin? I hope so! So my question to you is, "What are YOU doing with these seconds?"


If you take into consideration the time we sleep, let's say 8 hours for example, we still have 57,600 seconds (or opportunities) to live a happy and purposeful life. That's 960 minutes / 16 hours.


Are you making the most of every second? Are you living your purpose? Are you making an effort to be in the moment? Are you focusing on the good? Are you making a difference in your life and someone else's?


It's so easy to coast through life and not really have an agenda. We get comfortable in our daily routine and don't step outside our comfort zone.


Who here hasn't felt surprised at a milestone event, like a birthday, anniversary or birth at how fast the time went? We wonder, where did all that time go?


If you love life, don't waste time. for time is what life is made up of. ~ Bruce Lee

How we lose precious seconds:

Thoughts

How many seconds do we waste every day ruminating over past events? Or worrying about the future? Or what people think of us? Was it worth it? Is it worth it? Did we gain anything from that time spent?


When someone cuts us off on the road, how long do we stay grumpy? The incident may last only a few seconds, which is only .003 % seconds of our day. But if we include the minutes or hours we remain angry about it, we can make it last for thousands of seconds, which can equate to a good percentage of our day. Just 30 minutes equals 2% of your day.


For every minute you are angry (or fill in the blank), you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Take a moment and look at your day so far? What have been your thoughts? Were they productive or just crazy talk?


If we are living IN the moment instead of being distracted by prior history, possible future events or negative self-talk, we would be much happier. But as humans we can stay unhappy, mad and miserable for hours, days, and even weeks over one little 'event' or 'experience'. Think of how many seconds, i.e. moments, in our lives that are wasted.


Inaction

How many times do we self-sabotage the things we want to do or should do? That 'thing' can be something big like bungee jumping off the Kawarau bridge in Queenstown (which is a clear NO for me) or small like taking a simple walk around the block. We tell ourselves we'll do "it" tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, or next decade once we have the time and/or money.


If it's a matter of time, I'm here to tell you, you DO have time. It's all about time management and priorities. Just look at the hours wasted every day watching TV or scrolling through social media. We are completely hypnotized and mesmerized by what we see but it's not getting us anywhere. Unless of course you're a TV critic or a social media influencer.


This is your life. We only get one. If you have a bucket list, it's time to take a look at the seconds that could be put to good use. This might help put it into perspective. This is based on 365 days.


5 minutes = 300 seconds (109,500 per year)

Read 7 books @ 1 minute per page, average book length of 250 pages

Perform 3,650 pushups with a daily average of 10



10 minutes = 600 seconds (219,000 per year)

Walk 182 miles @ .5 mile per each 10 minutes

Meditate 3,650 minutes and actually find peace in your day


30 minutes = 1,800 seconds (657,000 per year)

Write 2,190 cards to our military overseas @ 6 per day

Learn 1,825 new words in a foreign language @ 5 a day


Wow! Let's stop for 30 seconds and just absorb THAT!


Accomplishing anything can be done in small increments.


A man who dares to waste an hour of time has not discovered the value of life. ~ Charles Darwin


Our life is a gift. Every night at midnight we lose the 86,400 seconds we had that day. If we've wasted some or all, there is no do-over. There are no carryovers either.


We have two choices, either live IN the moment or spend our whole life agonizing over the past or worrying about the future. Which would you rather do?


Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. ~ Eckhart Tolle

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