Stewards of our own time

SINCE God has made us stewards of our own life, we need to

learn how to manage the many resources entrusted to us so that we can

be fruitful and productive in this life. Let’s remember that God will

always ask us to account for what he has given us.

            Among these resources, our time occupies a prominent and

crucial place and plays a strategic role. It has been said that time

is very precious because once it has passed, it can never be

recovered. Some saints have regarded time not only as a treasure but

also as glory, depending on how it is used.

            We have to be really good in managing our time, being

clear about the proper motives, priorities and standards in the use of

time. The motives should be none other than love of God and others.

The priorities should always be God first, then others, then

ourselves.

            And the standards should be such that at the end of the

day we can ‘harvest’ a good crop that at bottom is a matter of growth

in sanctity and apostolic zeal. We should be clever enough that,

though they have their objective value, we do not get too entangled

with the technicalities involved.

            In this regard, I suppose having daily plans and

strategies would greatly help us. We always need some structure to

guide us and facilitate things. This way we minimize getting

distracted along the way.

            We need to spell out as clearly as possible our goals,

both the immediate and the long-term, as well as the means that we

need. We have to know how to distinguish between what has absolute

value to us and what only has relative value.

            What we should avoid at all costs is to waste time when we

find ourselves idle and not knowing what to do and in the process

inviting all sorts of temptations to feast on us. This is a common

phenomenon that we have to learn to overcome.

            We should always be on the move, promptly doing what ought

to be done in any given moment. This can require us to be fit

physically, mentally, emotionally, for which a certain time may be

allotted to do the appropriate exercises in the different aspects of

our life.

            That’s why we really have to be good at planning and

strategizing our day, so we can attend to this need without

compromising the other more important activities, or without getting

confused and eventually lost.

            Recently, for example, I was advised to make 10,000 steps

daily to be physically fit. This will obviously take time, and so I

just have to do some of my usual activities like praying, reading and

writing walking.

            Indeed, we should always be on the lookout for ways that

can save as well as multiply time for us. To a certain extent, we have

to learn the art of multi-tasking in a way that does not compromise

the quality of each task.

            There certainly is a great need for self-discipline here

and lots of humility so we can learn even from some unavoidable

mistakes and failures. We should not waste time ruing over our

difficulties and failures. Let’s remember that God always has precious

lessons for us to learn from our mistakes and failures. Let’s be quick

to learn them.

            We should also learn how to immediately bounce back after

any fall that can happen to us. We should have a sporty attitude

toward life’s ups and downs. As much as possible, we should enjoy all

these.