The importance of sharing time with the family! Time is the measure of life

Sometimes I wonder through the corner of my mind about what life is. I remember someday I asked my friend "What is life, what is the future we are all so much looking up to?"

In my perspective I think life is nothing but time and how you spend your time makes up how you lived...

Future is nothing but the tomorrow that you wake up still breathing. I will always say that if you are to save money make sure you are not doing it on an empty stomach!

Now lets look at how most of us live our lives. At the early 20s you start getting busy, you are working hard to build a better future. Then at the early 30s you probably now have a decent job, you are married and now you are working even harder for your future hardly making anytime at all for your loved ones. You run from place to place all over the world but your house.

Your wife is also a career woman who is probably busier than you are. Soon children join you and you oust them out to the system in the name of formal education (a.k.a school). The only time you see them is when they wake up and when they are about to sleep. In your mind you are doing all these for them.....before you realize they have become somebody. If you are lucky they become responsible else you will be bitter the rest of your life. What you tell them to do they do the exact opposite.

Now you are 65 and you are retired, you want time with your family but come on, the children are busy. They hardly even visit home, they are struggling to build a life for themselves and the cycle continuous.......

I have a story I want to share with you today so you will see the relevance of spending time with the family and living life instead of surviving for the future you are not promised!

Father was a hardworking man who delivered bread as a living to support his wife and three children. He spent all his evenings after work attending classes, hoping to improve himself so that he could one day find a better paying job. Except for Sundays, Father hardly ate a meal together with his family. He worked and studied very hard because he wanted to provide his family with the best money could buy.

Whenever the family complained that he was not spending enough time with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this for them. But he often yearned to spend more time with his family.

The day came when the examination results were announced. To his joy, Father passed, and with distinctions too! Soon after, he was offered a good job as a senior supervisor which paid handsomely.

Like a dream come true, Father could now afford to provide his family with life’s little luxuries like nice clothing, fine food and vacation abroad.

However, the family still did not get to see father for most of the week. He continued to work very hard, hoping to be promoted to the position of manager. In fact, to make himself a worthily candidate for the promotion, he enrolled for another course in the open university.

Again, whenever the family complained that he was not spending enough time with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this for them. But he often yearned to spend more time with his family.

Father’s hard work paid off and he was promoted. Jubilantly, he decided to hire a maid to relieve his wife from her domestic tasks. He also felt that their three-room flat was no longer big enough, it would be nice for his family to be able to enjoy the facilities and comfort of a condominium.

Having experienced the rewards of his hard work many times before, Father resolved to further his studies and work at being promoted again. The family still did not get to see much of him. In fact, sometimes Father had to work on Sundays entertaining clients. Again, whenever the family complained that he was not spending enough time with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this for them. But he often yearned to spend more time with his family.

As expected, Father’s hard work paid off again and he bought a beautiful condominium overlooking the coast of Singapore. On the first Sunday evening at their new home, Father declared to his family that he decided not to take anymore courses or pursue any more promotions. From then on he was going to devote more time to his family.

Father did not wake up the next day.

In as much as it is important for us to contribute to building a better world for tomorrow, let's not do this at the expense of life itself...You will lie on your chair at the old age and realize you only lived for work and nothing else. You will regret the time your didn't spend with your family but then it will be too late!

As we join this world of work, lets be wary of the traps that comes with it and learn better ways to make decent use of our time......

Beware of the trap of the world of work. Thanks for your attention and see you at the very top!