Time: Valuing a Precious Resource
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
I was talking to a friend the other day about the concept of time and my thoughts surrounding my own personal time. My thoughts about time have changed year after year and have recently been very situational. The concept of time is so complex that everyone’s concept or definition of how it should be observed is different. We all come from different backgrounds; our thoughts and values are not the same. Take a look at your friend group; I’m not speaking about the people you call your friends; I am talking about the people you share your deepest moments with. There is a chance that though something similar brought you together, your differences make you unique.
So what is time?
According to Merriam-Webster, the word time has several definitions. The ones I’ll focus on today are the point or period when something occurs or an appointed, fixed, or customary moment or hour for something to happen, begin, or end.
Yes, I know that sounded like a mouthful but essentially time is when something occurs or is supposed to occur. I grew up in a family and culture where time and respect for other people’s time are important. We value other people’s time almost as if it were our own.
There is a saying “To be early is to be on time, to be on time is late, and to be late is unacceptable”.
This is a phrase I’ve had in my mind from childhood through my career. Honestly, many people I’ve met know this phrase and have lived by this phrase for years. I think this phrase is foundational but that’s it. As we grow older and wiser and our lives change I think how we view time is based upon what we have going on in our lives.
I value other people’s time, therefore, I make every effort to be early or on time to events I’ve been invited to or meetings that I’m required to attend. I’ve always been this way and I find that those I keep closest to me make an effort to do the same. However, the sentiment is not the same for everyone I know.
There is a subset of people who are legitimately in their world. They go through the day not worrying about or caring about other people’s time. Some days I even wonder if life is better just floating but I know it’s not. There’s also a subset of people who show up significantly earlier than the invitation states. I’m not sure that these people care about other people’s time either. On the one hand, you feel like you should arrive early, and on the other hand, you don’t want to arrive too late and if you had another hand you’d be somewhere in the middle where maybe you are someone who constantly cancels plans.
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash
Then, there are those of us who have become situational. As I’ve gotten older, I don’t have the same rules for every single event that I’m invited to attend. Over the years I’ve learned the appropriate times to show up to different events, both private and open invitations. I still don’t like being the last person to arrive anywhere and it makes me cringe when I’m more than 15 minutes late to anything. The reservation staff in restaurants do not play around so I try to be a little early. This list could go on forever. The reason for this list in the first place is because I value my time and other people’s time. I want others and myself to get the most out of each day.
What I’ve learned over time is that there are people who don’t hold the same value that you may when it comes to time so I want you to relax. Go into situations knowing that people may show up late, they may show up early, and they may not show up at all even though they RSVP’d. Make a mental note of who and how you’d like to proceed in the future. Try not to stress too much over time, you can’t control time or other people. You can only control what you do and have good intentions for your time and others’ time.