The Value of Time

Every Sunday, I get an E-mail from Rabbi Kalman Packouz (Aish.com) on insights to life, personal growth, and the Torah. I love this E-mail because there is always great advice and sayings from famous Rabbis of the past, and there's usually a very clear interpretation of what we're reading in the Torah each week. Its silly, but I also like the way each E-mail starts with, "GOOD MORNING!" I usually wake up on Sundays feeling a little dull because I know I have 8-10 hours of studying ahead of me, but when I read that "GOOD MORNING!" I really do feel like its going to be a good morning- it just makes me smile.

Anyway- to the point-

Today's E-mail was about the value of time. Rabbi says, "The Torah teaches us to value time. Every moment is precious. Every moment a person can do good, perfect his character, make the world a better place. The Almighty gives us a limited amount of time and it is up to us to make the most of it."

Then he included this quote by anonymous:

"Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course!

"Each of us has such a bank. Its name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow." You must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success! The clock is running. Make the most of today!"

I read something similar to this in the Tibetan Book of Living in Dying- about the value of time. This prompted me to think about my propensity towards distraction, sometimes visiting addicting websites like facebook instead of studying. It all starts with a break- thinking that I have studied for a good 1-2hrs, and now I need a short 10-minute breather before I move on. So I visit facebook and then 30 MINUTES LATER I realize that I am way distracted and off track! Then I think about the idea of using each second to the fullest, and I try to restart my studying engine. It is harder to get back on track after visiting distracting websites- you have to buckle down and get in the study mode again, which takes up valuable time. Instead of being angry at myself for falling victim to the internet, I just need to think, "OK, this world is distracting, and for a moment I allowed myself to get off track, but now I am going to click that red dot at the upper left hand corner of the browser window and get back to work." Sure, I am allowed to have breaks, but that's what stretching, JAMA, and going outside is for. Oh I guess I need to eat, sleep shower, and exercise, too right? Can't forget about that stuff or I am guessing I will have to worry about others being angry at me even more than me being angry at me :)

Hope you can take something from the quotes about time that I pasted above, and feel free to share anything in the comments about your efforts to live each second to the fullest. Thanks for reading.