My whole life I have understood the value of time, that life is much shorter than I ever imagined. A geology class brought that to my attention—rocks accumulate over millions of years and lay down a timeline of change over additional millions of years. 

So, for us humans, life is but the blink of an eye in the big picture of a lifetime. The analogy from a geological perspective should be enough for us to understand just how valuable our time is. Too bad it took me years to work on the quality of my time. 

There is something special when I am around a calm, content person living in peace. Somehow, it always seems to me, they have figured out the relevance of how they spend their time, in some cases sacrificing much. I am always inspired by people that follow their beliefs, passions and dreams despite the obstacles. Working on me used to be scary; now it is part of living with a purpose. 

Time, change, balance, perspective, thinking, actions, beliefs, situations, goals and just plain growing up all play their part in living a balanced life and appreciating the value of time. How do I build value to the moments I spend with loved ones? How do I make hard decisions that divert stress and free up time for me and my loved ones?  

Like all things of value, balancing time is hard. But only through work, balance and available time can I choose the memories of life. 

I understand the statement that “I am responsible for me, my thinking, behaviors, deeds, everything.” To have time is one thing to totally enjoy; however, the quality of that time is linked to my mind and my thinking. It is hard to cleanse worry and bad habits that work against us, to stay focused on optimum health, self-care, nurturing a soul, clearing the past, apologizing, holding no grudges or resentments. Understanding what was good for me, how to do the right thing and help others so that I could become the best person, father, husband and friend did not come easy for me. To this day, it is still a work in progress. Well worth adding to my personal growth collection is a reminder to work on time balancing. 

To allow for a contented and balanced life, I must make room for the good stuff along with cutting, fixing or repairing the bad stuff. The process is hard, but I believe it will be worth it.

While I work on me, I’d like to challenge you to analyze your own time. What would you like to change? What would make your life more balanced? 

In peace, love and laughter,

Joe Dunne