Just a Minute

I was watching this tv show last night and the daughter on the show was mad at her parents and not speaking to them. The mother, in her wisdom, went in and talked to the daughter. Her wise words were, "you can choose to sit there and be mad, but for each second you are wasting being mad, you could have chosen happiness. And you will never get that second back . . . or that one . . . or that one . . . or that one."

I know it was just a tv show, but that really struck a chord in me. (I have no idea what that expression means, but I like it.) I thought to myself, "how many seconds of my life have I spent angry, or bitter, or frustrated, or discouraged, or sad, or mad, or any other range of negative, life-draining emotions." How many seconds have I spent focusing on the fact that the beds didn't get made or the dishes didn't get done, or that my kids grades weren't what I wanted them to be?

How many seconds have I lost to futile arguments? How many have been sacrificed to feed my ego? These are all seconds I won't ever get back. In fact, I will never get back the seconds it has taken me to even write this post. So moving forward, will the thought that time is fleeting affect how I live?

All that to say, I guess time will tell. (sorry, couldn't resist that one)