Sometimes it may seem like we have all the time in the world, but the truth is that we are all on a timetable. We have a limited number of days, hours, and minutes to be on earth. How will we use the next few minutes of our lives? How will those minutes change our days, and months and years? To use a colloquialism, ‘in a New York minute, anything can turn on a dime.’ In our youth we often imagine a time in the future when our dreams will come true. As we get older, after experiencing loss, disappointment, and pain, we sometimes look back and think that the time for our dreams to be realized is over.
Grandma Moses, a folk artist who died at the age of 101 in 1961, began her painting career when she was 78 years old and became famous worldwide for her paintings, which she often sold for thousands of dollars. A work of art she painted at the age of 95 sold for $1.2 million dollars in 2006.
No matter how old or young we are, we have the same number of minutes today that we had yesterday. Until the time clock of our lives runs out, we will have 1,440 minutes to use each day. If each of us came to earth with a mission to accomplish, whether we complete it will depend on how we use the time we have left. Depending on how we use our minutes, our impact may last long after we are dead and gone. If we discipline ourselves for the successful completion of our mission, we will realize that time is of the essence, and we will make the most of every minute.