A photo of Pat Cummings taken by her husband, Jim, a couple of years ago. Quilt and crocheted afghan made by her.

What is on my mind tonight? Time! It is 11:05 p.m.. I have tried going to bed but my head is full of “fluff,” like Winnie the Pooh, and I can’t settle in. My thoughts center on time as a commodity and how much time we waste, hoping for, planning for, and anticipating future events instead of living in the moment. When we are young, we want to be “older.” Little do we realize that when one succeeds in that goal, often the wish is to regain not necessarily youth, but the qualities of youth, such as being virtually pain free.

Think about how much time is wasted in waiting. How many times are you subjected to “elevator music” after being put on hold, when trying to call a doctor or other office? Think of all of the wasted time we sit in traffic, waiting for the lights to change, or backed up on a busy highway. Life is often a waiting game. To combat the problem of wasting time, I have taken up my husband’s practice of always bringing a book along, in the car or to any other place where “waiting” can be anticipated. I would bring needlework but it seems like too much work to get everything out for just a very few minutes. Reaching for a book is much easier.

The main consideration regarding time is that it is a limited quantity in anyone’s life. For those who consider themselves to be bored, and that would never be me, time passes slowly. However, for those who keep themselves busy, there seems to be a shortage of time. The funny thing is, the older we become, the less time there seems to be, and in actuality, that is truly the case.

There are experts in time management who can teach you how to multi-task to get more done in less time, and how to become more organized so that your time is used more efficiently. One idea is to have a paper-less environment, as much as possible. In that case, one does not have to keep moving papers from place to place. Everything important is stored on a computer. That is a fine idea… perhaps, except that some of us are rather addicted to paper.

For example, I treasure old ephemera like trade cards, old publications, magazines of any stripe, old newspaper clippings, in-hand photographs taken at a time before the digital age. All of that takes space, yet unless it is blown away by a hurricane, I plan to keep much of it. Books I can hold in my hand will never be replaced totally by e-books, as much as I love e-books and think that the ones I’ve personally created are very worthwhile, offering beautiful color images and a quantity of information not suitable to a print format, in some instances. (By the way, e-books are currently outselling regular books on amazon, I learned today!)

Getting back to my main topic of time, I have come to the conclusion that not every moment can be exciting. We all have to do chores in daily life that can be a drag. That aside, we can make an effort to make every minute count, even if that means a determination to enjoy life a little more and worry a little less. We are all headed in the same direction, after all, and we have only one life to “get it right.” Enjoy today!

Patricia Cummings

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This entry was posted on Monday, July 26th, 2010 at 11:25 pm and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.