I made a snarky comment the other day that I wished I could take back. It was in the diary about making mini tents with "occupy" slogans on them. My comment was "Somebody has way too much time on their hands!"
Now, it's not that I didn't mean it. I did. But I try not to be judgmental, and I thought perhaps I crossed my own self-imposed line.
But the reason I thought it was a frivolous use of time is that I have been thinking about time quite a bit lately.
My wife lost her sister to cancer a few months ago. She lived half the country away from us, and we didn't get to see her much. She and her husband had health issues and the visits from Florida to Chicago became few and far between. But my wife and her would talk on the phone regularly.. they would laugh.. and cry.. as close sisters will do. When she died in August, not only was a huge hole left in my wife's heart, but that bonding time was gone.. poof! Needless to say, it has been a hard 4 months.
So, as Christmas rolled around and my grown daughters asked for Christmas suggestions, along with the list of "stuff", I asked my 2 girls to maybe just give some of their time.. phone time.. whatever.. to fill that void. They are busy.. both working too many hours (thankfully, in this economy, i guess). So, it wasn't a frivolous request. As busy as they are, they have answered the call. Phoning her more to ask advice on one thing or another.. asking her to breakfast.. nice. I am very proud of my girls.
So. The reason for this diary is to remind you all how precious time is. Your time, is of course precious to you. There's never enough. But have you thought how valuable your time is to others?
Do you have an elderly parent/grandparent/neighbor who could use a hour or two?
Cleaning house?
Yard work?
Help with grocery shopping?
Did you know how hard grocery shopping is for some people? And not just the elderly? We have food desserts in our big cities. Someone without a car cannot easily do shopping to stock up on healthy foods. Rural residents have some of the same issues.
Offer your time.. whatever it is.. even if it just an afternoon together having tea and cookies. And get you kids involved. They need to be taught by example.
Think about it.. give a card offering your time. It is the most precious gift you can give.
And if there is no one you know, volunteer. Check out your local library for volunteering opportunities.
And Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Kwanzaa! and Festivus and anything else I missed!