Article by Tiarra Tompkins, Vice President of OnFire Books.
Where are you losing your time?
Time is an interesting concept. We all have the same hours in a day. For those of us who wake up, we can choose how we spend that time. Sometimes those choices are hard.
Despite our best efforts, time is something that passes without regard for how much of it we need or want. Maybe today you want time to pass by quickly so that you can be with your family or friends. Or maybe you want time to slow down because you must say goodbye.
Words are currency. It’s a critical phrase in our business of words. But it means so much. Why? Words have so much more meaning than the surface definition we give them. Time is defined as the irreversible succession from the past through the present and into the future.
I ask again, Where are you losing your time?
Many of us are losing time in moments that drag us away from our purpose and our calling. Temptation sits at the fork in the road. It pulls us in the direction of the emotions or objects we may want with temporary promises of things that rarely last. When the moment of indulging in that temptation is over, will you regret the time spent in temptation land?
The root word for temptation and temporary is TEMPO and TEMPOR which mean TIME.
These two things steal time. Temptation is defined as “something that seduces you, or the desire to have something or do something you know you should avoid.” Temptations are always temporary. The positive feelings from those fleeting moments are gone once the moment has passed.
Things that steal your time may not be so obvious. It’s not just unproductive meetings, social media or toxic people that steal your time. It could be excessive television, a needy friend who is excessively communicative. It could be driving and shopping when you could have ordered what you needed online. It could be responding to emails throughout the day instead of blocking time for them. There are so many things that tempt us and steal our time that we have to be intentional about what is worth it and what isn’t.
Just like temptations steal time, so do things that are temporary. If you are investing your time in things that you know won’t last, are you investing in your legacy?
Think about the temporary things in your life, the temptations moments that come by and present you with that fork in the road. You have a hard choice to make. Take the temporary path, waste time and energy on something that may never benefit your legacy. Or, you can take the harder path. You can pass by those temporary moments and choose to live with intentionality during your life.
Don’t let your now be stolen from you by temptation and the lie of temporary things. Take the hard path, pass by temptation when you reach that fork in the road and be intentional about your moments.
Time is very real to us even though this moment is the only one we can live in. Only now is real.
There are no refunds on lost time. Be intentional with how you choose to spend it.
To your legacy,
Tiarra Tompkins
www.OnFireBooks.com
