You check your phone shortly after waking tomorrow morning.
There’s a text from your bank saying, “Someone deposited $1440 in your checking account last night. It’ll only be there today. Whatever you don’t use will be removed at midnight.”
What would you do?
If it happened to me, I would think, “OK, this is no little thing. I’ve got some options:
- I could spend it.
- I could save it.
- I could invest it.
- I could give it.
But there’s one thing I wouldn’t do: Ignore it.
Would you?
That’s really what happens every day to each of us
But it’s not dollars.
It’s minutes.
Every day, we get 1440 minutes. We start the day with them, and they’ll be gone when the day is over.
At the beginning of the day, we can choose what to do with them. If we wait until the end of the day, those choices are made for us by default.
The good news is that it happens again tomorrow.
And the next day. And the day after that.
But not forever.
So, we’ve got 1,440 minutes today (less, unless we’re reading this at midnight). What do we need to know to make good use of those minutes?
- Time is limited. There will come a day when those daily deposits stop. So it’s important to make sure we use each day’s minutes wisely.
- There are no days that do not count. Each day is unique, and provides unique opportunities. If we ignore those opportunities today, they’re gone forever.
- Our future will be determined by our daily choices.
- Good choices today will pay dividends in our future.
- Bad choices today will make withdrawals from our future.
- Not making any choices today gives our future away.
- Nobody becomes an overnight success. Nobody becomes an overnight failure. It’s the culmination of our daily choices.
- If we’ve been making bad choices (or no choices), we can change that today. One good choice moves our future forward.
Yesterday is gone, and tomorrow isn’t here yet. Worrying about either one will distract us from being intentional about today.
So, how will you use your 1,440 minutes today?
Fantastic article, Mike. We really enjoyed the read and the comparison you used to money.
Thanks – and thanks for reposting it on your site!
Good one, Mike… I just got another wake up call – a dear friend from church just went Home, and I am so glad I was able to talk to him before I left – he’s out of pain and illness, those left behind are glad for that, but he will be missed SO much! I’ll miss his smile & hugs when I go back each time now… I’m glad the Lord has spoken to me about encouraging, appreciating and giving flowers now, before my friends die…
We never know, do we? I’m really sorry for your loss. Another reason to say what we need to say, instead of waiting until it feels more appropriate. Thanks, Cindy –
Wow, what a great perspective. Putting it in the metaphor of money really got my attention. I’ve been trying to be more intentional with my time. It seems to just flit away so easily. So thanks, Mike, for a wake up call.
They say “time is money” — maybe there’s some truth to that! Thanks for your thoughts, as usual!