Retrospective
Time, Precious Time By Jennifer Scales
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The world as we know it has become a strange and unfamiliar place, his prose assures us of power to remember the gift of life I the certainty and beauty was given. Fast forward to the presWhere fear and uncertainty have come to rob us of our joy. found in time. Looking ent; I continue to make a conscious We need to rest in the certainty and beauty of time, back at this past year, one true effort to live up to that promise, The grace in its patience in making us whole again. constant can be found, Time remembering that one moment in When the night seems cold and the world unfair, made things better. Time in and time when my time could have or of itself is just a measurement that should have ended. Sometimes, I A hope can be found in each moment called time. occurs in increments. Measured worry that I need to do more, love Slowly healing, gradually changing, eventually renewing, by seconds, minutes, and hours more, give more, care more. But the Strengthening and nurturing us as it passes. as the earth revolves around the truth is every day I wake up, I am sun, adding up to days, months, grateful for another day. When catastrophe hits or trouble abounds, when it all seems overwhelming, and years. My ideology about time is Just remember there will be a tomorrow, and the sun will shine bright again. The concept is easy; even a child simply finding that something Be assured time will make its way, can understand. My point is not to that makes you unique. Whatever bring light the obvious concept of that looks like, we all have someIt will change things; it will change us with each passing day. time. But, instead to inspire questhing we can contribute—merely We may not see it, but as days become years, we will look back without regret, tions, “How are you cherishing using your uniqueness to make a Only then will we see what time has accomplished moments in your life?” “Are your difference in this world. Your gift in making us who we are meant to be. moments each day creating lastmay take a lifetime to give, but ing memories?” “Is how you spend what a beautiful way to spend What an amazing life made up of this beautiful concept of precious time, your time meaningful to you and your time. When we smile at a Strangely, the seeming bad times and the unimaginable those around you?” stranger, show kindness to others, can create a strength within us all. Time is fluid. Time can heal. or when we love unconditionally, Time creates. The mere exiswe are closer to getting it right. A Let’s choose our time wisely, fill it with hope, love, kindness, and forgiveness, tence of time should give us soldier may lose their life in battle, May we never take it for granted and treasure it as a wondrous gift. pause. Wasting valuable time is but what an amazing gift they gave the saddest of outcomes. How we fill our time and the measurement of it us. His or her contribution of their time will live on in our memories forever. matters, or at least it should. Finally, our time is precious; every moment can only be quantified by June 29, 1988, I experienced a life-changing event that I have celebrated making these moments meaningful. My life is far from perfect, but I make every year since. I was involved in a serious car accident that transformed a conscious effort every single day to be mindful of my moments, smiling my way of looking at time and its value. The trajectory of this event made from my heart and spreading kindness like confetti. me realize, at 26 years old, that my life could have ended that day or shortly If there is one thing that the pandemic has taught us is that life is fleeting. after. God spared me the memory of the actual car accident; only the scars Every passing segment of time we live matters; we need to express gratitude remain as a constant reminder that life is too short and should never be with humble kindness for the gift of life we are blessed to have and share. taken for granted. Live life with purpose and intention, expressing kindness and love in all I made a commitment during my healing that I would do everything in my you do.
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Paso Robles Press Magazine | August 2021