Yesterday a buddy of mine crashed our studio and watched our band practice. Afterwards, he, another bro and I briefly chatted about life. Both of them had this in common: that they were both disenfranchised at the idea of the corporate grunt life. One was about to quit, the other was in the process of pulling the trigger.

In this brief chat, one of the guys dropped some wisdom (being the older brother of the bunch). He said that in life, there are 3 things: 1) money, 2) time, and 3) your health. He quipped that our lives are all a balance of these 3 things. He went on to say that in his own life, he was approaching his limits in terms of time and money – basically that he did not want to spend any more of his time trying to earn little money while ruining his health due to the stress of his occupation.

Money.

Time.

Health.

I’d add a fourth – it’s relationships. Relationships are after all, what drive the why for our existence (in my world). It’s the friends, family, and the people in our lives for which those first 3 resources are expended, time and time again. Perhaps my friend assumed this, because technically relationships are not resources as the other three are.

So if we just go by money, time, and health, it’s truly ironic that the vast majority of us spend all of our time and health to earn money, then spend all of that money to try to save our health from the disease and wear and tear that earning it wrought in the first place. However, in this equation, the element of time has been lost. Once time is gone, it’s not replaceable.

I honestly think most of us don’t spend enough time pondering this value of time itself. I am now finding that people in their late 30’s, 40’s and even 50’s  start being faced with this stark reality as it stares them in the face. Far too often, it’s way too late. They’ve invested too much in their lifestyle to adapt. They didn’t take enough risks when they were younger to reap the rewards. And now it’s too late to take risks. Failure is expensive and oftentimes there is no path to recover.

But I’m personally glad when I see people pondering the time we have left. Money can be found anywhere; my professor once said “stupid money” could be found anywhere. Health can be worked on in most cases. Time – well that’s the slow, consistent burn that we’ll never be free from. It’s a double-edged sword,  because it is in time that progress happens, for better or worse, and it is in time that the truth of life, business, faith, and love all manifest their true colors. It is a beautiful thing because it forces one to face honest definition of all of these areas one way or another. You truly live, or you don’t. You thrive in business, or you fail. You believe in a God, or you believe in yourself. You truly love someone, or time fetters out the fact that you really don’t. Time clarifies all things eventually. Time is beautiful in this way.

Let’s not waste our time.