i heard it said that there are two ways to measure time, chronos and opportunity. chronos is greek for time. opportunity on the other hand is not as precise and as easy to measure. it's perspective really. everyone wants to maximize their time and become an effective time manager. seminars and books have been written about time management, yet the reality is that everyone is given the same, finite time in a day. so what is there to manage? what would make more sense to "manage" would be tasks as there is really nothing you CAN do about time. what you choose to do, one over the other... that is what you manage. when you choose to spend your time doing something, it's at the cost of not doing something else (or at least at that time). this "task" is what i call opportunity. if i really want to live my life to the fullest, it's not by managing my time better, but about making the most of every opportunity. someone said of mother teresa (one of my personal hero), that "everything she did was an opportunity to love." her time was measured by how well she loved.
in light of this perspective, i can't help but regret over my most recent missed opportunities (to love). in mumbai, while sitting in traffic, a little boy appeared out of no where tapping on my window, asking for money for food. it was a split second decision, but rather than quickly rolling down the window and pulling some money out, i managed to justify that this will just draw more people into traffic. the other very vivid missed opportunity was just last week, on my way to work. it was raining and i had my umbrella with me. i saw an old woman about to walk past me. what i noticed was her battered umbrella. the metal rims were broken and it barely covered her. she was wet and getting wetter. she walked past me and the moment was gone. it was another split second decision. my instint was to give her my umbrella and yet my rational was that i would be wet going into work. surely, she didn't have to face the same crowd... right? and yet those two faces are still a picture book in my mind of very real, missed opportunities. i think about people that don't rationalize their behavior but simply love, boldly and radically, at any cost to them. those are my heros, ones that don't measure or count the cost.
opportunities to love, to be generous and compassionate are everywhere if i would only but look up once in awhile from my own self centeredness; unlike time, it's endless and "favors... those who are prepared (to love)." "...and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing..." (1 Corinthians 13:2).
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2 comments:
Wow, you sure started out with a bang. I can understand that you feel for the women with the umbrella. I too have felt for the children that came up to me in India, but when you give them money unfortunately they don't get to keep it. There is usually an adult that takes the money with the promise they will take care of that child. However, it's usually a empty promise. Regardless, because you think about these things, that is what makes you a great person.
ok, let's try again. 4 times I've tried to leave you a comment but I always get an error!
I'm glad the blog is back. Thanks for sharing, and for reminding us to seize the opportunities to help others whenever they're presented!
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