“Try to imagine a life without timekeeping. You probably can’t. You know the month, the year, the day of the week. There is a clock on your wall or the dashboard of your car. You have a schedule, a calendar, a time for dinner or a movie. Yet all around you, timekeeping is ignored. Birds are not late. A dog does not check its watch. Deer do not fret over passing birthdays. Man alone measures time. Man alone chimes the hour. And, because of this, man alone suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures: A fear of time running out.”
– Mitch Albom, The Timekeeper
The date was March 4, 1993. As he was being introduced, he arose from his chair and began slowly making his way to the podium on stage as thousands in attendance stood in honor and applauded him.
Time… why is it that man cherishes it so little until he’s faced with the sobering reality that there are only a few grains of sand remaining in life’s hourglass?
As he waited for the applause to die down, his eyes looked out across the auditorium with humbled appreciation. The hundreds of dignitaries and sports icons gathered there that evening looked back at him, many of them wiping tears from their eyes. How could someone his age look so old, tired and frail?
Time… is there a more invaluable and precious commodity that man trades so lavishly for things of such inferior worth?
“Time. Time is very precious to me,” he began. “I don’t know how much I have left and I have some things to say. Hopefully at the end I’ll have something that will be important for other people, too.”
“We hug, we kiss, we love. And when people say to me, “How do you get through life, or each day? It’s the same thing. To me, there are three things we all should do every day. Do this every day of your life you’re going to have.”
Time… how often the years overlook the month; the months – the week; the weeks – the day; the days – the hour; the hours – the minute; the minutes – the second.
“Number one is to laugh. You should laugh everyday. Number two is to think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is you should have your emotions moved to tears; it could be be happiness or joy. But think about it: If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s one heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.”
Time… The yogurt that’s been sitting in the fridge for six months has no concept of time. And yet all things are bound by time, including man. The young have too much of it, and the old not enough.
“I urge all of you to enjoy your life, the precious moments you have. To spend each day with some laughter and some thought. To get your emotions going, to be enthusiastic every day. Ralph Waldo Emerson said: “Nothing great can be accomplished without enthusiasm.” Keep your dreams alive in spite of problems, whatever they are. I would like to spend whatever time I have left to give some hope to others. Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.”
Time… doesn’t stand still. It is far more precious than money. It is of the essence. It waits for no one, but changes everything. It heals all wounds and brings all things to pass.
On April 28th, just 58 days after speaking at the Espy Awards in 1993, Jim Valvano passed away from cancer at the age of 47.
Time… what you do with it matters.
Former Blackout Artist 