Self-Awareness | Wake-Up Call

You Are Wasting The Most Precious Resource On Earth

And you don’t even think about it

The current pandemic has reminded me that I far too often forget the important things in life.

My Twitter pops up a notification, a lady in her mid-40’s and a prolific writer in the community was heartbroken; her husband died of pulmonary complications following infection with the coronavirus.

No underlying health conditions. Nothing problematic. A perfectly healthy human. Now that lady has become a widow overnight and will have to raise their child on her own. She’s suddenly faced with a burden none of us wants to bear.

There are many more stories like this one. A lot of the reported deaths hit families like this one. Seeing the number as a statistic is easy, but I urge you to think about the human behind that number. No human is born without a family. And every death is the loss of someone for their family.

As much as we love to forget this, our time is limited

I myself am more than guilty of this. I haven’t seen my parents in 6 years, other than an occasional video chat or messaging. I’ve become a father and they only know their granddaughter from photos and videos. It’s a pity.

And I always keep telling myself that there’s more than enough time for us to finally meet, once “life has settled”.

But is it though? What if my parents contract the virus in the meantime? Or if they get hit by a car during one of their bicycle tours? Have you talked to the ones you love recently? Or do you think like me “ah I’ll do it tomorrow”?

It doesn’t have to be the pandemic though. I remember a story that happened last year here in Japan. Two elderly ladies were driving towards each other in their cars, both not paying attention. One of them tried to avoid a collision and swayed right into a group of 2-year-old children, who were walking back from a day trip with their caretakers. Two children died on the spot. Eleven got injured.

And it honestly makes me shake up just remembering. All my stupid joking and rambling and whatnot aside, this is something that goes close to my heart. Some parents getting a call out of the blue, that their child didn’t live through the day. My daughter is 15 months old now and I honestly don’t want to trust her to anyone but my wife.

How much time do we still have? The part of my brain that always takes everything for granted tells me that I got plenty. Rainbows and Sunshine. But I think I’m taking this way too lightly at times.

Time is precious, so use it wisely

There are enough people out there who constantly advocate against wasting resources. You can see movements to save animals, recycling, food, planting trees.

That’s all wonderful, but why don’t I ever see someone reminding us of how limited our time is? Why are there so many protests to protect the earth’s resources, but none to protect the most precious resource of them all?

Why are people constantly rushing through their lives? Heads down, staring at their phones. Busy with their jobs. Money, money, money. Not taking safety precautions. Driving without their seatbelts fastened. Not using a helmet on a motorbike.

They think they are invincible. They neglect their families. They do stupid things. And I can’t understand why. Why someone would waste their only chance. There’s no second life.

You surely have heard the quote

“At the end of your life, you don’t regret the things you did, but the things you didn’t do instead.”

in some form or another.

Now your first thought might be “taking chances when they come” or something along these lines. Yeah, sure.

You’d regret not taking that job offer. But there are other things people might regret in their last moment. Not paying attention; staring at their phone right before impact. Not fastening the seat belt. Not looking both ways. Not understanding the impact of their decisions. Not thinking.

Take action

I could make this a whole sermon about Nike’s slogan “Just Do It”. Go call your parents. Go book that flight. Go tell her that you love her. Do you want to be a writer? Stop worrying about these articles on how to become one. Start writing.

Take your daughter or son and play with them. Kiss your spouse. Be a father, a husband, a son. A mother, a wife, and a daughter. Be with your family. If I could do just that, visiting my parents right now, I’d do so without a second guess.

Talk. Sing. Dance. Live. But stop wasting the only resource you won’t be able to refill. Fasten your seatbelt. Look both ways. Stop dwelling on stuff that happened in the past.

If you want to get rich by being an investor, first learn to invest your time properly.

Kevin is an editor and writer for the ILLUMINATION publication. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.