Time versus Money
If you often wonder where the time has gone, then this is just for you…
Many people value money more than time. Sure, we need money in this society, and yes, it can make life easier, but it certainly doesn’t guarantee happiness. I think that money is severely overrated and that time is often just forgotten.
If you lost £50, would you be upset? If an hour of your time just slipped away would you be upset? Which would you be most upset about? This gives you an idea of which you value more.
Time is the most important thing we can ever have. Money can be made and lost, but time only decreases. So why do we place less value on it? Maybe it’s because it is just there, it’s free, and we just take it for granted. Whereas we have to work to get money, and decide how to spend it – it’s easy because it’s more tangible. You know when you’re running out of money, but you don’t know when your time will run out. I’m not trying to be morbid, or send you into depression…quite the opposite! I want you to enjoy every minute and spend your time wisely, so that you have no regrets.
So we’ve established that time is valuable, but how do you make the most of it? I believe that to be happy, your time should be spent being true to your values. You should be doing the things that mean a lot to you, things that excite you, things that make you happy.
Maybe you’re not sure what your values are. Here’s a useful exercise to help you decide what you should be spending your time on – it’s different for everyone because everyone has slightly different values.
Here we go:
Let’s pretend that from this moment, you will have infinite money for the rest of your life, but it cannot be given away. What would you do? Sure, to start with you might splash out and have a massive spending spree? (Go on, enjoy dreaming about the things you’d spend your newfound wealth on!) But after the novelty has worn off and you know you’ll never have to worry about money again, what would you do for the rest of your life? If you are honest with yourself, these are the things that will show you your true values. Once you know these, you can spend your time more wisely, doing the things that matter to you.
I hope this has helped you to consider the importance of time, and would love to get your feedback.
And of course, if you now want to spend more time doing the things that matter to you, you might need the Time Fairy to come and do the things that you’d like done, but don’t want to spend your own time on.
Ruth Lowe
Based in Southam, Warwickshire