September 14, 2016

Time: Best Friend or Worst Enemy?

1… 24… 168… 8,760. You might be wondering what the above numbers have in common? Or perhaps what they even have to do with you? Of course, you may have also already figured them out. The truth is, the above numbers apply to all of us equally. Over the next 60 minutes, one hour will tick away. This time tomorrow, 24 hours will have passed. One week from now, 168 hours will have come and gone. And this time next year, 8,760 hours will be in the books. So big deal, right? The same has held true since the beginning of time. Some might say time is neutral. That it is neither good or bad. Neither friend or foe. I say differently. Time is either your best friend or worst enemy.

1… 24… 168… 8,760.

You might be wondering what the above numbers have in common? Or perhaps what they even have to do with you? Of course, you may have also already figured them out.

The truth is, the above numbers apply to all of us equally. Over the next 60 minutes, one hour will tick away. This time tomorrow, 24 hours will have passed. One week from now, 168 hours will have come and gone. And this time next year, 8,760 hours will be in the books.

So big deal, right? The same has held true since the beginning of time.

Some might say time is neutral. That it is neither good or bad. Neither friend or foe.

I say differently.

Time is either your best friend or worst enemy.

And you get to decide which it is. If a friend, you are using it. If an enemy, it is using you.

Let me illustrate.

Have you ever slept in, and when you finally got up the gumption to get up, you just kind of rolled out of bed, spent your morning meandering around the house, and never really got around to doing much? You were just kind of lazy but you justified it by saying you deserved it. Before you knew it, it was mid-afternoon and you really hadn’t accomplished much of anything. By then though, you felt you needed a nap, because you were just tired from not doing much. So you snoozed a little more, and it was soon supper time. The day was nearly spent, and if you even bothered to think back, you’d have to admit you did absolutely nothing. Nada! Zip!

Now that may be an extreme example, and if you’re like me, you cannot think back to a time when you had a day that went like that. But you, like I, might be willing to admit instances in your life where an hour here or an hour there was “spent” on meaningless or non-productive activities. Sure, they may not have been “lazy” things, but they accomplished nothing of substance nonetheless. Can someone say Facebook? Or the second or third football game in a day? Or the fourth episode of your favorite sitcom? Watching Dancing with Stars? Or surfing eBay on the web? Or…

Of course, in and of themselves, none of the activities described above, or similar ones that might come to your mind, are evil, bad or hurtful. Well, maybe not… But here’s the point. Each time I’m engaged in one of them, an hour or two will pass. And the question is: Did I use time, or did it use me? Were you in control of that four letter word?

That is the key. Are you controlling time or is it just happening to you? When you find yourself in a scenario where stuff happens, things just seem to occur with no proactive control or input into what is happening, especially as it relates to your schedule, then time is controlling you. But when you and I are deliberate, scheduled and focused on a definitive timetable for our day and week, then we are in control of time. And rather than time being our worst enemy, it becomes our best friend, our ally.

Time is what enables us to complete tasks, goals and projects. Time enables you to build your dream home, deploy a detailed business plan, raise a loving family, deepen relationships with loved ones, redevelop a failed inner city, restore a failing nation to its once admired status and more. It matters not the size of the task. Time can and will be your friend and ally if you harness it to bend to your plans versus allowing it to choke us as we remain mired in mediocrity, laziness or simply poor planning and stewardship.

Time is neutral. So you will decide how it plays out in your life. Friend or Foe? Asset or Liability?

You decide. Don’t delay. 1, 24, 168 or 8,760 hours from now, will tell the story.


Republished from Awake to Freedom.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.