Time Is The Scarcest Resource

Before Thanksgiving, I had the chance to visit my brother Jake down in his new place in Washington D.C. My brother, albeit insanely intelligent and clever, is not my most lovey dovey family member (that’s my Dad!) However, people can surprise you and Jake provided some wonderful insight and thoughts into my ever-changing world. He made a particularly moving statement while we strolled the streets of DC:

            Time is the scarcest resource.

Which upon further research, I found the entire quote:

“Time is the scarcest resource and unless it is managed nothing else can be managed.”

–Peter Drucker

An interesting thought! Jake lives by this. He spends his time doing *exactly* what he wants, what he values, and what interests him. His goals drive his actions during the workday and in his free time. Of course, he told me, there is no need to be frantic with time; yes it is scarce, but it doesn’t need to cause alarm. Instead, Jake advocates for spending time being purposeful and efficient.  

As I said, Jake is not overly sentimental. He is very pragmatic and his outlook towards time reflects that. I do appreciate his view and agree. For me, I see the bigger picture of our time here on Earth; we never know how much time we have and therefore we should (within reason) spend it doing the things we love, with the people we cherish. Yes of course we will do things we don’t like, we will take classes we hate, and sit through movies we don’t like, or chat with people we find obnoxious, but the majority of our life’s momentum “should” be spent carrying out our greatest hopes and dreams.

My favorite Mary Oliver quote asks if we are breathing a little and calling it a life. This idea is so important to me- are we spending our days creating a beautiful and meaningful existence on this Earth? Are we using our time to leave this world a better place than the way we found it? Are we pushing ourselves to be our absolute best, and are we helping our friends/family/partner do the same?

WTF are you doing with your time?

If God laughs at our plans, should we even bother?

Today is a day filled with questions. I have no new insight, no answers, and no sense of peace. I’ve also stopped sleeping and eating like a normal person. I’m overwhelmed with the thoughts swirling in my brain.

My struggle is in the future- planning for it, preparing and anticipating the unforeseen challenges, and remaining grounded in my own dreams as I try to be flexible to whatever comes. How do we plan for the future, when so little is guaranteed? It begs the question of whether we should even plan. Being the daughter of two Virgos, I know this answer- Yes, I should plan.

If we don’t plan, how do we ensure that we are living purposeful, connected lives? How do we make sure we don’t just waste our time on Earth? But if we stick too rigidly to our plan, will we miss new opportunities? Will our blinders block out a better path? How do we strike a balance?

I wonder about timing too. If something is wrongly timed, do we deviate from our plan? Is this spontaneous or reckless? Or are we just recognizing that the plan needs to be adjusted?

I don’t know what is next for me. But I do know that *this* right now, this isn’t all that’s in store for me. I know I need to feel fulfilled by my relationships, career, dreams, and life. Otherwise, why are we here? Just to merely exist and take up air? NO WAY. I think and hope and pray and wish that my story is bigger than that.

One of my favorite new quotes:

“Listen- are you breathing just a little and calling it a life?”

-Mary Oliver, once again :)

WTF? W.T.F.