If you happened to follow any of my Facebook posts from last week, you know that dear Guy has had a tough time with an infection, specifically, a strain of E-coli that is resistant to a long list of antibiotics.  Seeing my once able-bodied husband be less than 100% for several months and twice completely weakened in a matter of hours is humbling, to say the least.  Thankfully, he’s on the mend, but you just never know when a bug is going to show-up and throw a wrench in our finely tuned, meticulously scheduled everyday life.

 

As well, outside of illness, there is this thing called aging that has a way of sneaking-up on a person.  Aging brings along a lot of baggage, some of which is rather attractive – like experience and insight, and some of which we’d much rather avoid – like aches, pains, and wrinkles.  As I’ve added years to my life and watched others add years to theirs, I’ve become much more aware of what my physical self is capable of…if I take care of it.  Between major illnesses and the inevitable fact of aging, the ticking of the clock gets louder and louder, and the little voice in my head begins to chant, “This is it.  This IS IT.  THIS IS IT!”

 

Events such as these have a tendency to shock me back to center for a quick evaluation of how I’m living, forcing me to ask the hard questions of myself:

 

Am I taking my days for granted?

Am I really living my best life?

What are my goals and what am I doing to reach them?

Where am I focusing my TIME?

 

More often than not, the first three questions get wiped off the board, because the fourth question trumps them all.  The precious commodity of “time” defines and decides the answers to my first four questions.  After four decades, I know that I’m at my best and fully utilizing each day that I’ve been given when I can focus on….

 

Time spent with my husband and kids;

Time spent with my family;

Time spent with my friends;

Time spent serving others;

Time spent doing things I love; and

Time spent maintaining good health so

 

I HAVE THE TIME

 

To appreciate my “Get-Tos”…
Get To go to work each day.

Get To make meals each day.

Get To mow the lawn each week.

Get To remind my kids that we live in a house not a barn.

Get To remind my husband that I’m still picking-up his socks after 16 years.

Get To clean our home….occasionally.

 

All blessings, albeit, often in disguise, especially when living life with the throttle to the floor.

 

I’ve never been one to waste time, yet sometimes I know that I get wrapped-up in the day-to-day and forget that “This is it!”  The experiences of the four decades that I’ve been given thus far, have brought insight that I wish my younger self had had, yet I know that is the way of life.  Needless to say, today, I am evermore aware of where I’m spending my time and whom I’m spending it with, because, like the popular soap opera states, “like sands through an hour glass, these are the days of our lives,” might we all spend each one wisely!