Time is the most precious thing...

Time is just the most precious thing. The older you get, I guess the more you realize this. Maybe it’s not even an age thing. Maybe it’s a maturity thing, but none of us really knows for sure exactly how much of it we’re going to be given,  and so when you truly grow, you learn to prioritize it well.

You learn to value your time, and take it for the gift that it is. Not tomorrow. Not a year from now. Not when you graduate, or when you meet “the one,” or when you have enough money. Not when you finally have all your ducks in a row, or when all your dreams come true. But now.

You learn to say no, and you learn to have boundaries. You learn that some people just aren’t going to be your people, and you learn that things normally work out the way they’re supposed to. You learn that there will be bumps and detours along the way, and sometimes nothing goes as planned. You learn that nobody really knows exactly what they’re doing and that everyone has a story to tell if we’d just care enough to listen.

You learn to really choose your friends well, and you learn to invest in people who make your heart shine and your soul feel at peace. You learn to let the wrong ones go without throwing a fit, and you learn to forgive, because bitterness is such a waste.

You learn humility, because no matter what you have and what you achieve, you’re no better and no worse than anyone else. We’re all just people doing the best we can. We all have a place in this big ole world and none of it really revolves around us.

You learn to try and fail and then get up and try again. You learn that even sadness and grief are part of being human and part of what makes a rainbow is so beautiful is the fact that it doesn’t happen until after the storm.

You learn that returning hate for hate has never done any good, and some people are just angry and insecure and it has nothing to do with you. You pray for them and you move on and you resolve to stay soft and pure and to keeping putting your best out there anyway.

You learn to call your daddy a little more and throw on the stupid bathing suit and jump in the pool with your kids when they ask because who cares about cellulite when they giggle and their eyes light up like that? You learn to pause and to rest and to watch the sun as it sinks and paints the sky in strokes of watercolored brilliance. 

It’s this kind of sad/happy thing that happens all at once. You learn that time isn’t promised and life feels a lot shorter than you thought it would when you were young, but you also learn to burn your favorite candles even when no company is coming over, and to give gifts even when there’s no occasion. You learn to sip your coffee slowly and to savor that very last drop and that stuff is just stuff but people are irreplaceable. You learn that dishes can normally wait and that dance parties in the kitchen almost never can.

You learn to live, because that’s really all we can do: live well and love like crazy because time is a precious thing and no matter how hard we try, we don’t get any of it back. So spend it well, friends. Spend it well. Feel the things. Enjoy your people. Listen to good music and give thanks for every moment.