The Coin of Your Life

"Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you."
-Carl Sandburg


Imagine there exists a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries forward zero balance from day to day. Every evening, it deletes whatever part of the balance that you failed to use during that day. What would you do?

Each one of us has such a bank; it's called TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night, it writes off, as lost, whatever part of this precious time that you have failed to invest for a worthy purpose.

It carries forward zero balance. It allows no overdrafts. Each day, it opens a new account for you. Each night, it cancels the remains of that day. If you fail to wisely use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no advance drawings against tomorrow. You must live in the present on today's deposits.

To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade. To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby. To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper. To realize the value of ONE DAY, ask a daily wage earner with a family to feed. To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are eagerly waiting to meet each other again. To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask the person who just missed a train. To realize the value of ONE MILLI-SECOND, ask the athlete who just won a silver metal at the Olympics.

Time is like money - you can only spend it once. One fully realizes the importance of time only when there is little of it left. Treasure every minute that you have each day. And treasure it more if you have found someone very special to share your time with. Killing time is not murder; it's suicide. People who kill time have not learned the value of life. Time lost is never found again. Remember that time waits for nobody.

Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. It is difficult to live in the present, ridiculous to try to live in the future, and impossible to change the past. Nothing is as far away as one minute ago. Make the most of today. Invest your time so that you earn the utmost in health, happiness, and success. Your clock is running.

"I wasted time, and now doth time waste me."
-William Shakespeare

"Enjoy life. There's plenty of time to be dead."
-Hans Christian Andersen

"If you take care of the moments, the years will take care of themselves."
-Maria Edgeworth

"A life lived for tomorrow will always be just a day away from being realized."
-Leo Buscaglia

"Live as though it were your last day on Earth. Someday you will be right."
-Robert Anthony

"Stop acting as if life is a rehearsal. Live this day as if it is your last. The past is over and gone. The future is not guaranteed."
-Wayne Dyer