Monday, December 30, 2013

TIME WAITS FOR NO ONE

As the old year ends and a new one begins, I often look back and silently chide myself over the time I might have squandered and should have used more wisely.

The New Year is always a great time to say good-bye to all our yesterdays and give a hearty, forward-looking hello to a new start in a new year. It’s a feeling that invades our thinking and whispers, “Your slate is now wiped clean of all the troubles and missteps you’ve experienced. Let’s begin anew.”

So, how will you use this unbiased fellow we call TIME--who credits you every morning with 86,400 seconds in the day? (Or 31,536,000 seconds in the new year?)


Imagine a bank that credits your account with $86,400 each day. It carries no balance over from day to day, and every evening it deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use. What would you do? I believe everyone would agree we’d be foolish not to draw out every cent.

Each of us has such a bank. It’s called TIME. And every morning we are offered 86,400 seconds. Every night, TIME writes off, as a loss, whatever seconds, minutes or hours you have failed to invest in good purposes. There is no balance. There are no overdrafts. Each day TIME opens a new account. If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours.

What am I really saying? I’m telling you the clock is running and you must live in the present of today’s deposits. Invest your time so you get the utmost in health, happiness and success. Make the most of today. Treasure and use wisely each moment in both work and play.

To realize the value of one year, ask a student who failed a grade.
To realize the value of one month, ask a returned soldier how he felt during his last four weeks of deployment 
To realize the value of one hour, ask lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of one minute, ask the person who just missed his plane flight, train or bus.
To realize the value of one second, ask a person who just avoided an accident.
To realize the value of one millisecond, ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.

Treasure every moment you have. Remember, TIME waits for no one!

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

The Humble Pines










'Twas daybreak in the forest
The winds blew crisp and cold, 
And snow lay in a white-washed 'guise
On oak trees, staunch and old.

The sky was blue, the drifts knee-deep
As snowflakes fluttered down,
While high above the hemlock sighed
A faint melodious sound.

Across the vale the star of night
Broke through the frigid morn,
And scattered rays of hope and peace. . .
Today, the Child was born.

Then firethorn threw shimmering beads
Amid the sun-kissed laurel;
Bright holly bushes shook their limbs
With shades of sparkling coral.

The birds sang on this blessed day
With wonderous trills and sounds,
The humble pines took time to pray
And bowed their branches down.