Day 26--"The trouble is, you think you have time."--Buddha

We all talk about time a lot.  There never seems to be enough time to get it all done.  Time moves too slowly when you're stuck at work and moves too quickly every weekend.  We're all really good at wasting time (can we say Facebook, Pinterest, watching multiple reruns of The Big Bang Theory all in a row...).  You wonder where the time went when you realize your baby starts fifth grade in the morning.  Time...

I like inspirational sayings.  I swear sometimes those folks are talking just to me.  Like today, while I was busy wasting time on Pinterest, I stumbled upon a quote from Buddha:  "The trouble is, you think you have time."  And we do, don't we?  We put off so many things because we believe we've got tomorrow, or next weekend or next month.  Maybe we don't call our parents enough, maybe we don't play enough with our kids, maybe we don't exercise because we think we have tomorrow.

What if we don't?

I know there's a local preacher dude and his wife who wrote a book about living each day of your life as if it was the last one.  I'm not big into organized religion, but I totally dig the premise of the book.  Yes, there are things we just can't avoid doing every day because we have bills to pay--working--but there are still plenty of hours in the day and in the week that we could really do better with.  I know I could.  And I can promise you that if today was my last day, if I was about to be out of time, I would have spent the whole day just talking to my daughter.  I would make sure she knew how much I love her, am proud of her, and that I know she's going to have a wonderful life.  I would be more patient, and I would laugh as much as I could.  I would hug her a lot. 

So what if today wasn't my last, but what if I only had a few months?  How would I live my life differently?  How many more chances would I take?  How much time would I waste?

I bought a print from Brian Andreas several years ago, and I credit it with forcing me to make a change in my life, to leave a job that kept me from my daughter. 

There is exactly enough time for the important things in your life.  You just have to decide what they are.

We took a spontaneous trip up Dallas to see the Cowboys play last night.  It was just a preseason game, but the tickets were so cheap, and I knew we wouldn't be able to afford to go again this season, so we decided to go and we went.  And we had a great time, and made some great memories.  Yeah, it was the weekend before school started.  Sure, we still had stuff to do to get ready.  But this was an important thing...making memories with my daughter was an important thing, and there was exactly enough time to take a roadtrip with her.

I'm about 6 weeks away from the Mudder.  I've been sleeping through P90x lately, but I've been hitting the gym faithfully.  I did get my 5 mile run in last week.  6 is on tap this week.  I had a little panic attack today thinking I was running out of time.  That I might not be ready.  That I might not finish the race.  I confess I started coming up with excuses to get out of it.  I do have that trick knee that gave me trouble in the Half, and I have had two bouts of plantar faciaitis over the last several years...I could blame one of those two things.

But then I stopped myself.  I can't give up.  I can't quit.  Not this.  Not anymore.

I have exactly enough time to get ready.  To get ready enough. No one says I have to rock the Mudder.  I just have to survive.  That has always been the goal.

Buddha is still right...I shouldn't walk around everyday thinking I have time. And Brian Andreas is still right...I have enough time for the important things in my life.  The two aren't in conflict because if you live every day like it's your last day, you will make sure you spend it doing what you love with the people you love.

Everyone says "life's too short" or I guess the hipster updated version of that is "YOLO."  Either way, you never know how many tomorrows you have, so if you want something, if you want to change something, if you want to be better, or different, if you want to mend fences or find a lost love, if you want to get closer to your children, or to your parents, if you want to move to Central Park and paint pictures or move to Mexico and braid tourists' hair...just do it.  Because you don't know how many tomorrows you have.

It's time.