As a new year begins, it's seems like a good idea to think on the subject of time.

As we look into 2009, we find ourselves looking at a block of time. Did you ever stop to think how that block of time breaks down? You would find 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, 8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes, 31,536,000 seconds.

We have done nothing to deserve it or earn it. Like the air we breathe, time comes to us as a part of life.

You and I are not the only recipients of this gift of time. It is not ours alone. It is given equally to each person. Rich and poor, educated and ignorant, strong and weak -- every man, woman and child has the same twenty-four hours every day.

Not only is it given equally to everyone, another important thing about time is that you cannot stop it.

Time marches on. There is no way to slow it down, turn it off, or adjust it.

And you cannot bring back time. Once it is gone, it is gone. And that's it. Yesterday is lost forever. If yesterday is lost, then tomorrow is also uncertain.

We may look ahead at a full year's block of time, but we really have no guarantee that we will experience any of it.

If you look at time like this, you then realize how precious it is. I once read this thought on time:

"Yesterday is history, that's why it's called the past;

Tomorrow is a mystery, that's why it's called the future;

But today is the present, and that's why it's called a gift from God."

Recipe for a Happy New Year

Take twelve fine, full-grown months; see that these are thoroughly free from old memories of bitterness, rancor and hate,

Cleanse them completely from every clinging spite;

Pick off all specks of pettiness and littleness;

In short, see that these months are freed from all the past -- have them fresh and clean as when they first came from the great storehouse of Time.

Cut these months into thirty or thirty-one equal parts.

Do not attempt to make up the whole batch at one time (so many persons spoil the entire lot this way) but prepare one day at a time.

Into each day put equal parts of faith, patience, courage, work (some people omit this ingredient and so spoil the flavor of the rest), hope, fidelity, liberality, kindness, rest (leaving this out is like leaving the oil out of the salad dressing -- don't do it), prayer, meditation, and one well-selected resolution.

Put in about one teaspoonful of good spirits, a dash of fun, a pinch of folly, a sprinkling of play, and a heaping cupful of good humor.

Anonymous

Obviously, time is one of our most precious possessions. We can spend it on ourselves, waste it or worry over it. Or, we can make investments for a lifetime.

The new year is a full block of time. Consider this your challenge for 2009. As the seconds tick away, will you be tossing time out the window, or will you make every minute count?

Happy New Year!