But the years have a habit of sneaking up on us, and to our deep dismay we realize that the “boat” we thought was still docked has slipped away. But though we may have missed one “boat” there is always another to be found if we look and try hard enough.
Do You Know What Time It Is?
Our lives spread out in all directions,
Full of dreams and goals and human connections,
The attaining of which we put off, postpone,
Thinking that time is a commodity we own.
The clock goes on ticking, but we don’t hear,
Our world is young, so we have no fear
That the opportunities we have will cease to be,
To us the road is stretched out endlessly.
Yes, we have goals to achieve one day,
But what’s the rush, so what if we delay?
We’ll get to it soon; we can afford to wait,
So much time ahead, we won’t be late.
We’ll mail that letter; we’ll make that call,
We’ll get down to business, and give it our all.
But not today – why be stressed?
Tomorrow is when we’re at our best.
We so easily give ourselves permission
To postpone the work, the effort, the mission.
So with hardly a thought we set aside the task,
The importance of which we eagerly mask.
Too late, we come to realize
That while we do nothing, time still flies.
We turn around and there are no tomorrows,
Just unfulfilled dreams, regrets and sorrows.
But it doesn’t have to be this way,
Mourning the opportunities we let slip away.
Longing for what never came to be,
Because we couldn’t bother to face reality.
For each day bears the gift of a new beginning,
Where one can go from losing to winning;
By valuing our time and putting it to good use,
No wasting, no more squandering, no more abuse.
Instead each remaining moment must be treasured,
Used with great thought and carefully measured,
So that goals can be attained and relationships built,
And satisfaction and fulfillment replacing sad guilt.
You can’t look back, but you can look ahead,
And end the inertia and move forward instead,
And take those old dreams off the dusty shelves,
For Hashem helps those who help themselves.