The ancient Greek philosopher, Seneca, had this to say about time:

Men are thrifty in guarding their private property, but as soon as it comes to wasting time, they are most extravagant with the one commodity for which it’s respectable to be greedy

There is something to be said of the time we have right now. While the frustrations of social distancing can dominate the psyche, there’s an opportunity to look for something bigger.

The traditional thieves of time used to come in engagements with others you didn’t care for or extra work you were guilted into finishing. These often came in large denominations of days, afternoons or evenings.

The thieves of the hours came through the mindless entertainment of television—watching something because it’s on and not because you’re interested.

Today, there are much craftier thieves of time who steal it in slivers, but cause it to evaporate by a thousand cuts. These are the thieves of digital distraction whose most common name is “Just checking,” but what makes them really vicious is they occupy your mental state all day.

All those thieves are hard to combat when life is moving so fast.

However, now, there’s an opportunity to stop them.

I am not getting any younger. Neither is my family.

As frustrating as days can be, I’m getting an incredibly large chunk of uninterrupted time to enjoy them right now.

I don’t know what the future will hold.

I do my best to prepare for it and to take advantage of the opportunities available, but I cannot assume an outcome.

This time has taught me to be an even greater guardian of the time I have.

I hope it does the same for others.