Every man gives his life for what he believes. Every woman gives her life for what she believes. Sometimes people believe in little or nothing, and so they give their lives to little or nothing. One life is all we have, and we live it as we believe in living it…and then it’s gone.
But to surrender who you are and to live without belief is more terrible than dying – even more terrible than dying young.
– Attributed to Joan of Arc
In today’s culture, there is a great focus on overindulgence, convenience, pleasure and entertainment.
The irony is that we may have started to reach a point of “critical mass” when it comes to our forms of media. Digital libraries of past and present television shows, films and music promise access to “everything you could ever want,” but the cost is time. The cost are the years, hours and seconds of your life. Even then, there is surely more multimedia in existence today than you could ever witness in your entire life.
Based on figures from 2014, the average person watches about 141 hours of TV per month, or 1,692 hours per year. Assuming you reach the average U.S. life expectancy of 78, that’s about 15 years of your life you’re going to spend watching TV.
How does our time speak about what we believe?
I am afraid of what my life, as measured by the time I invest, would truly show about my values.
Time is a precious currency, this side of eternity. Perhaps we should spend it wisely and unselfishly.