“The most precious gift you can give someone is your time.”
Martin DeNaeyer
I know you’re busy. It’s springtime on the ranch. You have brandings to go to almost every day for the next month, never mind getting organized for your own. There’s fence to fix before turnout, and hay machinery to be gone over and repaired. If you didn’t know better, you’d swear the school is plotting to keep you running behind. Your kids have track meets, golf meets, art shows, music programs, and awards banquets, and you’re expected to show up for them. There’s yard work, trees to trim, and someone decided this would be a good time for a class reunion. When are you supposed to concentrate on making a living?
It seems like I’ve been busy all of my adult life. Often, someone else planned my busyness and I complied without questioning. You’d think retired people would be able to sit back and relax. But honesty requires me to admit that some of this frustration involves poor choices, and I’m the one who owns those. If I want more free time, many activities that I’ve enjoyed for decades need to be put aside. In her later years, my mom sometimes turned down an invitation, saying she had been out the day before and two days in a row didn’t work for her. I’m starting to know what she meant. We are the only ones who can give ourselves the gift of time.
I know people who say they look back on their lives and have no regrets. For some of us, poor choices are the building blocks of growth. Second chances are another name for “the grace of God,” but we don’t always get second chances. My kids used to ask for bedtime stories about “When you were little.” I couldn’t think of interesting things to tell, so I brushed those requests aside. I know now that they didn’t care about “interesting.” What they were asking was a little more of my time. I’d been busy all day and was tired. There were more chores to do before bed, and I hurried off to do them. Regrets—you bet.
So, what if the yard didn’t get mowed before branding? Take time out to reminisce with the out-of-town company that came for the weekend.
Did you put off writing a note to Uncle Harry again today? You know his health hasn’t been good.
Susie worked so hard on her art project. Take time to sit and listen while she tells you where she got the idea.
John has been on your mind lately, for some reason. Maybe you ought to pick up the phone.
Your old dog has followed you around all day, getting underfoot. Sit down and scratch behind his ear, in the place he likes best. Tell him what a good boy he is. Yes, they understand our words.
Don’t rush out of the grocery store with a quick wave to your neighbor. Go over and chat a bit. Her mom’s in the nursing home; maybe she’d appreciate it if you stopped by.
This stuff isn’t rocket-science. Just take time to do your best. Somebody might like it.