When we were little kids, a specific phrase was said every time we were given any amount of money as a gift, from $5 to $50. This phrase was a sound piece of advice, one that our eight year old selves probably took for granted most of the time. Our grandparents, relatives, parents, etc. told us, as they placed the bills in our small hands, to "spend it wisely."
This advice may not have resonated with our minds back then as anything more than a reminder to not blow the money on something useless. Now, however, when I hear someone say "spend it wisely," I cannot help but think that this advice can be appreciated in a whole new way as we grow older.
As a college student, one of the biggest commodities of my generation is not just money, but time. "Make sure you get involved," "Study abroad," "Study hard," are all examples of advice given to us as we graduated high school and got ready to move into dorms that fall. Pieces of advice were scrawled across cards, written on the backs of picture frames, and whispered in our ears as we hugged our loved ones at graduation parties. The biggest piece of advice I ever received, however, was one that was not spoken. I noticed, as many of us do, that as we grow older, we must choose to spend our time wisely.
Spending your time wisely, in college and in life, doesn't always mean that you must spend every second of every day doing something. It means that what you put your energy, effort, and time into is what you want to be doing. No, every task, homework assignment, errand, job, etc. is going to be the most fun experience of your life. Sometimes you must do what you do not want to do in order to reach your goals and get to where you want to be.
As we get older, it feels as though time speeds up, and seasons of our life change faster than the colors of the leaves. The incredible part about all of this, though, is that each new season brings new things to love about life. We have been given the amazing gift of a chance to impact others through what we do.
Moreover, spending your time wisely also means that you choose to spend it with people you love, going places that are familiar and those that are new, choosing to push yourself out of your comfort zone, choosing to volunteer your time in a way that assists others, and choosing to see each day as a fresh start.
Time sometimes makes life feel like sand falling in an hourglass. The cool thing is that as much as we cannot freeze moments in time, or re-live experiences, or even make it slow down to enjoy where we are a little longer, we can live each day to the fullest. We all have the chance to do something with the time that we have. I encourage you to spend it wisely.
"The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." (Michael Altshuler)
