OWNERS OF LIFE
Let’s consider all the areas where we aren’t owners of our time. Whenever you’re in paid employment and trading your time for a wage, you don’t have a say in how you spend that hour, as someone is compensating you a small amount for a piece of your life. Time constitutes your life; it is the very substance of it. Each of us has a set amount of time on earth. For some, that may be ten years; for others, it could be forty, fifty, or more. Whatever you do with your time determines what you produce from your life. I’ve been going through a particularly challenging period due to my understanding of time, and the awareness of what I could create from that time is so painful when you’re not the owner of your own life. Most people don’t even grasp the concept of what time is for, which is why they squander it on trivial pursuits.
Some may think going to the café, dining out, or lounging by the pool is the best life. From my perspective, this goes completely against my value system. I dislike an unstructured life or simply engaging in mundane routines without creating value. For personal reasons, I cannot explain what has held me back from living the most fulfilling lifestyle when others want to confine me for their benefit, not even understanding what they are doing because they do not value time for lack of understanding. Although I know the season is coming to a close, I will return to doing what I enjoy most: constant self-education. It is the fabric of my life because I understand that, with the years allotted, I want to maximise as much value as possible to be useful to God's kingdom.
For me, that is the purpose of life. We sell our lives for peanuts when we trade them for a low-yielding, mundane lifestyle. I cringe at wasting time simply because I understand its value. However, most people around me and in my culture have little idea of what time truly is, as they hold different philosophies shaped by their values and stages in life. This could involve family, raising children, going on holidays, retirement, making money, seeking pleasure, excitement, or adventure. Each perspective influences how we experience life. Alternatively, some might believe that time is meant for themselves; it all depends on one's worldview. This is why the most fundamental aspect of life is grasping the logic behind one’s worldview, which many people have little, if any, understanding of.
Yet the most valuable thing in life is time. We create everything from time. Warren Buffett is a man of integrity and possesses an exceedingly high net worth that he has built for himself. What he has accomplished with time, particularly in the financial realm, is outstanding due to his values. He is an honourable man because of what he created over time. Hitler killed six million Jews in his lifetime, and that was how he chose to live. Bin Laden was a radical Islamic terrorist, and he killed and destroyed many lives due to his misguided philosophy. Billy Graham, a well-known evangelist, redeemed his time by reaping a harvest for God's kingdom. He tapped into the gift within him and built heaven’s asset column. We choose to live for ourselves, God, or others.
I don’t mean that you should become someone’s spare tyre, only to be used when theirs is flat, or that you’re building someone else's dream at your own expense. I mean that serving mankind with whatever God has placed in you should be a constant lifestyle of converting value. Many people are not givers; they hoard. I’m not just talking about money; there is so much within us that we must empty ourselves of, and it is meant for others. Everything you see in this world was created for a purpose: the sun, rain, fruit, trees, fish, oxygen, and even the cockroach and the rat. Nothing was made for itself. How much more so for man, created in God's image and likeness? Even your eyes were designed for a specific purpose. Every part of your body serves a particular function, and when it is maximised and used to build God's kingdom, it fulfils the purpose of its design and is maximised for His glory. I need my hands to write and my mind to think; I use words to communicate ideas that are the raw materials from which life is made, as our words frame ideas that shape thoughts and influence how we perceive the world. We share in that communication.
We may not always agree with each other on some issues, just as I have had conflicts with someone else’s value system; however, this is often due to their lack of understanding about concepts beyond their grasp. I constantly contend with distractions because I cherish the quiet needed to perform at my best, believing that the right environment is essential. Another important aspect of living a high-yielding lifestyle is identifying the settings where you flourish and then optimising them to extract as much value as possible from that time. It doesn’t matter what you possess or lack if you recognise the wealth of time and manage to infuse each day with immense value; that is how you live your best life without regrets.
Written by Rochelle White
OWNERS OF LIFE
Let’s consider all the areas where we aren’t owners of our time. Whenever you’re in paid employment and trading your time for a wage, you don’t have a say in how you spend that hour, as someone is compensating you a small amount for a piece of your life. Time constitutes your life; it is the very substance of it. Each of us has a set amount of time on earth. For some, that may be ten years; for others, it could be forty, fifty, or more. Whatever you do with your time determines what you produce from your life. I’ve been going through a particularly challenging period due to my understanding of time, and the awareness of what I could create from that time is so painful when you’re not the owner of your own life. Most people don’t even grasp the concept of what time is for, which is why they squander it on trivial pursuits.
Some may think going to the café, dining out, or lounging by the pool is the best life. From my perspective, this goes completely against my value system. I dislike an unstructured life or simply engaging in mundane routines without creating value. For personal reasons, I cannot explain what has held me back from living the most fulfilling lifestyle when others want to confine me for their benefit, not even understanding what they are doing because they do not value time for lack of understanding. Although I know the season is coming to a close, I will return to doing what I enjoy most: constant self-education. It is the fabric of my life because I understand that, with the years allotted, I want to maximise as much value as possible to be useful to God's kingdom.
For me, that is the purpose of life. We sell our lives for peanuts when we trade them for a low-yielding, mundane lifestyle. I cringe at wasting time simply because I understand its value. However, most people around me and in my culture have little idea of what time truly is, as they hold different philosophies shaped by their values and stages in life. This could involve family, raising children, going on holidays, retirement, making money, seeking pleasure, excitement, or adventure. Each perspective influences how we experience life. Alternatively, some might believe that time is meant for themselves; it all depends on one's worldview. This is why the most fundamental aspect of life is grasping the logic behind one’s worldview, which many people have little, if any, understanding of.
Yet the most valuable thing in life is time. We create everything from time. Warren Buffett is a man of integrity and possesses an exceedingly high net worth that he has built for himself. What he has accomplished with time, particularly in the financial realm, is outstanding due to his values. He is an honourable man because of what he created over time. Hitler killed six million Jews in his lifetime, and that was how he chose to live. Bin Laden was a radical Islamic terrorist, and he killed and destroyed many lives due to his misguided philosophy. Billy Graham, a well-known evangelist, redeemed his time by reaping a harvest for God's kingdom. He tapped into the gift within him and built heaven’s asset column. We choose to live for ourselves, God, or others.
I don’t mean that you should become someone’s spare tyre, only to be used when theirs is flat, or that you’re building someone else's dream at your own expense. I mean that serving mankind with whatever God has placed in you should be a constant lifestyle of converting value. Many people are not givers; they hoard. I’m not just talking about money; there is so much within us that we must empty ourselves of, and it is meant for others. Everything you see in this world was created for a purpose: the sun, rain, fruit, trees, fish, oxygen, and even the cockroach and the rat. Nothing was made for itself. How much more so for man, created in God's image and likeness? Even your eyes were designed for a specific purpose. Every part of your body serves a particular function, and when it is maximised and used to build God's kingdom, it fulfils the purpose of its design and is maximised for His glory. I need my hands to write and my mind to think; I use words to communicate ideas that are the raw materials from which life is made, as our words frame ideas that shape thoughts and influence how we perceive the world. We share in that communication.
We may not always agree with each other on some issues, just as I have had conflicts with someone else’s value system; however, this is often due to their lack of understanding about concepts beyond their grasp. I constantly contend with distractions because I cherish the quiet needed to perform at my best, believing that the right environment is essential. Another important aspect of living a high-yielding lifestyle is identifying the settings where you flourish and then optimising them to extract as much value as possible from that time. It doesn’t matter what you possess or lack if you recognise the wealth of time and manage to infuse each day with immense value; that is how you live your best life without regrets.
Written by Rochelle White
Arabic
French
Spanish
Portuguese
Deutsch
Turkish
Dutch
Italiano
Russian
Romaian
Portuguese (Brazil)
Greek