Here’s a quick way to get rich. Ask $10 from each person you hear say "I’d love to, but I don’t have the time." After a year, you’d have enough for a trip for two to Tahiti… or at least for gas money to Kalamazoo.

Professing "lack of time" may be the ultimate excuse… another way to say:

• "You must be crazy I’d never do that."… or;
• "Get out of my face. If I never see you again, it will be too soon"… or;
• "What? You think I’ve got nothing better to do. Get a life."

But in truth, time is too precious an asset to waste as an excuse. Time is a luxury; it is our hedge against the tides of life, of the inevitable end that will take us all.

When we hear of a person dying young—or unexpectedly—we feel sympathy for loved ones, sure; but we also breathe a sigh of inner relief. After all, we will still have time.

But do we?

Do we make time at work to finish projects that we really enjoy and take pride in?

Do we make time for our children when they need help with schoolwork, after-school activities, or just life itself?

Do we make time for our spouse when he or she asks for our time?

If I am any kind of example, I think not. Yea, yea, I think I make time. I really do; but too often I become embroiled and entangled in my own time that I do not make time for others.

Okay, so, I am not alone. So what do we do about it?

Well, first, let’s start making time for ourselves. Time to reflect--to size up the world around us and to take stock in ourselves.

Why put our time first? Isn’t that a contradiction? Not really because when you put your own time first you may realize that someone else’s time—your loved ones’ time—is what matters most.

We live by the clock—in work, in school, in play. And yes, we die by the clock. But we can fight back.

For example, I have made one small gesture. I don’t wear a watch. I haven’t done so in years. Why?… First, I don’t feel comfortable with something on my wrist. Second, not wearing a watch makes me feel rich. Yes, it is my way of affirming that my time—our time—is indeed a luxury.

Sure, I cheat. I have a clock in my office, on my computer, in my car… as well as on my wife’s wrist, and even on my kids’ wrists, too.

But I am free of it myself. And with all apologies to any watch seller, I don’t intend to start wearing one anytime soon. It’s my time and I’ll mind it myself.

But there is one hitch. I can’t use "not having time" as a credible excuse. After all, who’s going believe a man without a watch?

©John Baldoni, 1998