TIME is of the Essence!

     ***This piece is dedicated to Maria Adler, a dear friend to SOOOOO many of us in Meetup circles; especially in Chris Florian’s Fun Peeps.   This goes out to those of us who knew Maria anywhere from a few weeks to a decade or more prior to cancer taking her earthly form on September 21, just two days after turning 54 years young.

     Maria constantly touched us all with her genuine kindness and sweetness.  But we were just as amazed by her incredible positive attitude and fighting spirit which never seemed to wane throughout her gallant 5 ½-year battle with that dreaded ‘C’ word.

     According to Mark Twain, “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight.  It’s the size of the fight in the dog.”  Well, Maria probably barely weighed 100 pounds at any point in the decade or so that I knew her.  In regard to her own personal battle, she was probably the most ferocious Chihuahua I have ever known!

     Many of us, upon getting the sad news from Chris, immediately took to Facebook to begin a very lengthy period of shared sadness and mourning.  The kind words continually flowed from morning to nightfall, the entire next day and beyond.  Oftentimes, those words were accompanied by a wide array of photos depicting Maria individually, as part of a duo, a handful of friends or part of a group of several dozen friends.

     One thing stood out from nearly every photo—Maria’s wide, infectious smile.  That was a fact well before, during and after our 2013 benefit for her at Candicci’s Restaurant.  It was also at that juncture of facing an undetermined number of remaining days that Maria’s indomitable spirit was exposed to all.

     This week’s influx of heavy-hearted messages and photos could suffice in and of themselves to carry us through the coming days.  But I also personally witnessed more than a handful of posts of a somewhat different nature that, in the spirit of Maria, that could inspire us through the remainder of our earthly days.

     Maria’s sweet existence and premature passing can be utilized as an alarming wakeup call regarding our own mortality and how we utilize the remainder of our own earthly existence.

Even without the death of a loved one, as we grow into our 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and beyond, the thirst for increased enjoyment coupled with a greater sense of purpose seem to grow exponentially.

     It increasingly becomes an endless battle of how we spend that four-letter word: TIME!

    

     Back in May of 1998, I conducted lengthy interviews with my parents for the creative 50^th anniversary scrapbook I was preparing for them.  I was racing with time to get the massive undertaking completed at least a few days before that celebrated June 27^th date.

     Even without that Golden Anniversary album in front of me, I’ll always remember one of my mother’s quotes:  “You go to bed one night when you’re young; You wake up the next morning and you’re old!”

     My dad passed away on April 21/22, 2009 at the age of 86, less than 10 weeks shy of my parents’ 61^st anniversary.  My mom died unexpectedly on November 6, 2014, just two days after turning 84.  The more that time slips away in my own life, the greater understanding I have of my mom’s saying.

     Sooooo much has been said about time!  Motivational guru Jim Rohn has two terrific quotes about time:  “Time is more valuable than money.  You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.”  “Life is not just the passing of time.  It’s the collection of experiences and their intensity.”

     One of my favorite quotes has been written in many variations and has been attributed to several different people, including one of my favorite authors, Leo Buscaglia: “Yesterday is but a canceled check and tomorrow a promissory note.  Only today is cash on hand.  Spend it like crazy!”

     Yet another is “Most men (and women, too) lead lives of quiet desperation, and go to the grave with the song still in them.”~~Henry David Thoreau

     I can certainly relate to ALL those quotes!  While others have lived to work, I’ve always lived well within my means with few expensive material possessions.  Like many of you, I live for experiences like dancing, travel and socializing.  For the latter two, I take hug therapy to an art form when going out on weekends and week nights, have fun one-on-one, in small groups and in large ones.

     Considering family and friends, it’s great to realize that “the best things in life aren’t things!”  Is your glass half full or half empty?  I keep gulping down the contents (normally the non-alcoholic variety) and constantly have my glass refilled.  PLUS, I’d much rather wear out than rust out!

     How about you?  What’s your attitude toward time?  Are you collecting too many ‘what ifs?’ Do you talk yourself out of living by focusing on negatives or worrying about what might go wrong? You can’t change the past, but you can certainly ruin the present by worrying about the future.  

     Time is of the essence!  The clock keeps ticking.   Unless you can build “The Time Machine,” as in the 1960 H.G. Wells-inspired movie, or go “Back to the Future,” your time is also finite.  As the sands keep sifting downward from the top bulb of the hour glass to the bottom one, how do you choose to spend the balance of your days?

     The great Galesburg, IL poet Carl Sandburg once wrote, “Time is the coin of your life.  Only you can determine how it will be spent.  Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.”

     Finally, Jim Croce wrote “Time in a Bottle” after his wife told him she was pregnant.  The song wasn’t intended to be released as a single.  However, plans changed after Croce was killed in a plane crash in September 1973 at the age of 30.  It became his second and final No. 1 hit after “Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown.”  No one had any inclination that Croce’s own time would be so brief.

“If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I'd like to do
Is to save every day
Till Eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you

If I could make days last forever
If words could make wishes come true
I'd save every day like a treasure and then,
Again, I would spend them with you.

But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them…”

     That song also reminds me of Maria and all the posts I read this week regarding people being more motivated to follow their passions and dreams with an undisclosed amount of time.  After all, she was taken from us with roughly one-third of her years remaining.

     Do you want to take that extra dream trip or two?  Start that side hustle or not-for-profit organization?  Go for it because no one knows when The Grim Reaper may come calling.

     Personally, after some 3,000 published articles in sports, people features, events, travel, food in a 20-year period before The Internet Age, I have done a very miniscule amount of writing over the past couple decades. 

     Ironically, my last efforts were in 2013…until now.  I wrote most of this by hand this afternoon in an hour and 20 minutes with just a few notes, while sitting just a yard from Creve Coeur Lake.  It’s the most productive, lengthy piece I have written since the time of Maria’s benefit.  But now, I will be writing more and more before and during my retirement from full-time work!  Hope your short-term, medium-term and long-term goals consist of time well-spent! 

     Finally, in memory of Maria, who we will all miss dearly, may the Lord bless and keep each and every one of you safe, happy and productive!   Let’s try to emulate her incredible smile as I always utilize one of her favorite dance moves!