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You are here: Home / Newspaper Articles / Money can’t buy the 86,400 second in a day back

Money can’t buy the 86,400 second in a day back

Mental Matters By Dr. Jennifer Goble

I have basically wasted away half of my day.  I slept in, played Words With Friends, watched the “Price is Right,” and didn’t dress until noon. I had lunch with a friend, and returned home. In a computer search, I found this appropriate, anonymous story.

Imagine you won a contest, and your prize was $86,400 each and every day of your life. It was deposited into your private bank account for your own personal use.

Of course, there are rules attached:

•You must spend ALL the money each day.

•Everything you don’t spend each day will be taken away.

•You cannot transfer the money to another account, or give the money to someone else.

Every morning you get another $86,400 to be used that day.

The bank can cancel your account and stop depositing at any time without warning. When the game is over, IT IS OVER!!

What would you do?

Myself, I would spend it!

I would have a massage every day, and hire a cook who liked vegetables. I would pay off family debt, and I would take friends and family on cruises. I would also pay for women to go to college.

In truth, we play this awesome game every day, except we get 86,400 seconds instead of dollars. Time is our money; we have a time bank. Again, what would you do? Remember, the game could end without notice.

Did I waste away my morning?

Maybe.  Maybe not.

I listened to my body, and it was tired. Sleep was not my friend during the night, and I had zero energy.

My eyes burned, and my brain felt heavy. I spent 18,000 of my 86,400 seconds on myself, doing nothing.

Shame on me?

Or, good for me?

I was only given so much time, and I spent it reviving myself so I could spend the remaining 68,400 seconds on lunch with a friend, conversation with family, and productive computer work.

True, we get limited time, but YOU and I are important, too.

Working beyond limits, and neglecting our needs over the wants and needs of others, is a sure way to break our time account.

Budget your seconds, and balance your time just as you would your money. We never get those seconds again, and money cannot buy them back.

Until the next time: Live while you live!

(Jennifer Goble, Ph.D., LPC, is the author of My Clients…My Teachers, and the blogger and encourager of Rural Women Stories: www.ruralwomenstories.com.)

The post Money can’t buy the 86,400 second in a day back appeared first on South Platte Sentinel.

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Jennifer Goble, Ph.D. is a rural mental heath therapist, author, columnist, and speaker. Her primary purpose in counseling and writing is to help women and families in rural communities.

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