Two Great Gifts

Last evening, my family held a surprise birthday party for me and my 40th birthday. It was a very special time for me that I am still enjoying even today. I am becoming even more convinced as I age that the greatest thing we have been blessed with are the relationships in our life. First with our Creator, then with family, friends, associates, etc. These are the one thing that we can take from this life into the next with us.

However, there is another element that I think is just as critical if not more so. Some would call this a blessing, others possibly a curse. That element is time. Everyone has it and they have it in the same quantity. Today I have just as much time available to me as Bill Gates, George Bush, Oprah Winfrey. And while they have many other resources available to them that I don't have, we all have the same amount of time today.

Time is so important that it even dictates the level and location of the other great gift I've mentioned; our relationships. The depth and extent of my relationships is controlled by time and how I use it. There are many people that I would enjoy a deeper relationship with, but time is the biggest drawback. There is not enough of it to go around.

So treasure both these elements. Treasure the relationships that you have; treasure the time that you have and do your best to maximize both!