Tiny Wisdom: Make Your Moments Count

“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” –Michael Altshuler

I am writing this from a plane with plans to publish it later. I decided less than 3 days ago to make the 3,000-mile trip home.

At first, my mother questioned if it was necessary—after all, my grandmother will be okay, despite her recent hospitalization. My brother said it was awesome and sort of surreal to learn I’d be visiting in just a few days—not in a matter of months, as is usually the case.

This is a big part of why I’m coming back again. I have two valid reasons: I want to visit my grandmother, and spontaneity is just plain cool.

Since I was able to find an affordable flight, I saw no reason not to reschedule some appointments and head back east, only a month after my last trip.

The truth is I would have come even if I didn’t find a great deal, because this, right here, is what I work for. Not shoes, or dinners out, or an excessive number of magazines—though I enjoy those things, too.

This trip (and others like it) is one of the best uses of my time and money.

I haven’t always thought this way. There was a time when I only visited once or twice each year, even though I said I valued family above all else. I assumed there would plenty of time for that–and it felt wisest to save my pennies.

I am by no means wealthy, but I’ve finally realized my pennies are only as valuable as the priorities they allow me to honor. We never get to know how much time we have left; we only know we can choose what we do with the time we have now.

We can easily let fear and a scarcity mindset talk us out of putting our money where our hearts are.

Or we can ask ourselves: What really matters to me? And how can I best use my resources to honor that today?

We can do a lot in this world with our time and money–but only after we decide what it means for each of us as individuals to make our moments count.

Photo by h.koppdelaney