Time is (of) the essence...

Being some random, rambling late night thoughts on time...
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Aside from our well-bring - our health - time is perhaps simultaneously both our most precious belonging and our most highly-valued asset.  It's also our greatest gift.

In terms of time as an asset, time is fundamental to us as a resource.  We are aware, possibly, that our time is limited, that our time is finite, that it is constantly being used up no matter what we do.  We are also aware, possibly, that our time resources are exchangeable for other resources (e.g. money) when we have a job or are self-employed or that we sacrifice those when we choose not to exchange our time in an occupational capacity. 

The relative value of time varies of course - based on the accepted value of the occupation, skills, experience, expertise and so on - but the fundamental essence of the money exchange is that it is based on usage of our time by another person or entity.  Time is the unit of measure - an hourly rate, a day rate, a monthly salary, our career earnings..  Our time is what we sell when we present ourselves to the marketplace of buyers - our employers, our customers, our clients.  In most cases, we are not able to name our price, or if we are then it is within limits.  On the other hand, how do we value our own time?  How do we balance up the monetary value of our time with what our time means to us?  Do we even do that?  Do you?.  When we "spend time" do we know what that actually means?  How do we "waste" time if it is constantly ebbing away from us anyway?

There are occasions when the exchange of time does not have a monetary rate attached to it.  We offer our time resources for other reasons. When we choose to offer assistance to someone when they need help, choose to engage in a conversation with a stranger or a neighbour or choose to give attention to family, friends or a relationship.  All of these activities represent the giving up or giving out of time as a resource without anticipation of any fiscal reward.

When we make such choices, we are also exercising judgments about how we could or should use up this valuable asset.  It sounds basic, but this notion of time is absolutely crucial.   To put it bluntly: we cannot offer our time simultaneously in many different directions, and, once that time is gone, it is gone.    It's a sad truism that people talk of "making time" for themselves as if that is somehow anachronistic to their other uses of time.  It is not - it is just the case that often we don't appreciate the intrinsic non-monetary nature of time in favour of its monetary value, or we don't recognise that time is precious and finite, and therefore we over-extend ourselves by "spending" it beyond our means.  And then we wonder why we "don't have" time to do things.  We do, it's just what we do with time, the choices we make with time, when we have time - which is now and is always now, this moment.  

Retaining clarity over what we are doing when we, for example, choose to do one thing rather than another, embraces this notion of scarcity and value and personal judgement.  By the same token, recognising what our time means to others is an important part of understanding that our time is something we can give as a gift, something we can offer as a shared resource, something we can proffer as a gesture.  As many volunteers would attest, giving time in this way also helps us to understand that having time, any time at all, is a gift and resource to ourselves too.

When we acknowledge either the selling or the giving of our time, we also accept its fundamentally finite nature. We also accept that it has a value because of this.  The value may be expressed monetarily or it may not.    When we give time, rather than sell it, we might come to understand that perhaps the non-monetary value we ascribe to our own time is much less than the non-monetary value obtained by the receiver.  Just a few minutes of time can mean so much more to another person than it could to ourselves - think of a friend in need that you could make contact with, an elderly neighbour that you could check in on, a person you can strike up a conversation with whilst waiting for the bus or out for a walk, and so on.  That is where the true value of time shines through:  when one person's time is highly valuable to another person simply because by giving it one expresses care, concern and connection.  Even community. 

Time.  Recognise its value and finite nature, use it wisely, but give of it generously.  To yourself and to others. 
Time truly is the essence and of the essence.