The irony of this post cannot be overlooked. This website used to be my SEO services website and two months ago I decided to change it to my personal blog. I set up the website accordingly and then….well, as you can see, it’s taken me two months to write the first post! I just couldn’t find the time to write it.
For as long as I remember I always wanted to work for myself and be rich. Money has always been a big goal for me but over the years I’ve learned that there is something that is much more valuable than money, and that’s time.
It’s the one thing we all ultimately run out of. You can die leaving millions in your bank account, but you can’t buy time, you can’t make time and you certainly can’t take it with you when your time is up (pun intended).
As you get older time is no longer just the numbers on the clock, it’s more about the realisation that it’s actually the most valuable thing that we can’t place an actual value to and that it’s limited.
I have two kids, they are 16. If all goes to plan, in a couple of years’ time they will be off to university and beginning their lives away from home. They have everything ahead of them, time to establish their careers, their families and their personal ambitions.
I often think about the fact that we have very little time to actually raise our children and to prepare them for the real world. So much of who we are is based on our childhoods, yet that time goes very quick. I really can’t believe my kids are 16. Where did the time go?
We also only get one chance to get it right. I think it’s sometimes why you see older men with younger wives and starting a family again. They missed out bringing their children up the first time around and they may want to do it again being more financially stable and secure…and they probably just want a young wife again too 😉
I think it’s definitely when you hit 40 that you being to focus more on the realities of limited time. It’s why, mostly men, have a midlife crisis. They feel time is running out and they want to do the things they should have done in their 20s; it’s just that they couldn’t afford to do them in their 20s and only now, in their 40s is it possible.
It’s at this point that we also start to take better care of ourselves. We start losing weight, eating healthier, doing more exercise and getting divorced! Yes, the reality is that many marriages are not ideal, making people unhappy, and once the kids have left, many couples get divorced…and the stats back it up.
Looking at the latest divorce stats from the Office for National Statistics, it states that:
The divorce rate for opposite-sex couples was highest among men aged 45 to 49 and women in their thirties (ages 30 to 39).
And on that lovely, positive statement I’ll finish this post with what I was really trying to get to…
The ultimate luxury is not money or the things that money can buy…it’s time. Yes, we need money but to be happy with money you first have to be happy without it. Money buys things, not happiness or time.
I know someone will be thinking that you can actually “buy time”. For example, I have a cleaner because it means that I don’t have to clean my own house and it means I have more time to do other things, such as eat chocolate or browse car classified ads 😉
So, don’t waste time. Don’t be lazy. Make time to do the things that make you happy. Spend plenty of time with your loved ones and strike a good work-life balance. It’s easy to say but it’s important. The time you waste…you won’t get it back.