We don’t have forever - Personal Development

We don’t have forever to do the things that we have been called to do. We don’t have forever to be on the level that we are currently are. Life and creation has been designed for us in such a way that nothing has been designed to remain in the same place forever.

Parents , we don’t have forever to raise our children and to in-still in them the value that we believe is important for them in life. We don’t have forever to serve in the capacity we are right now, regardless of how difficult it might be or how pleasant the experience might be. Friends , we don’t have forever to have the positive influence on the people around us.

If someone has hurt us, we don’t have forever to think about whether to forgive them or not; and if we have hurt someone, we don’t have forever to amend that relationship. Maybe somebody here needs to pick up the phone today and call someone and forgive them for the hurt they caused, because indeed we don’t have forever .

If someone has hurt us, we don’t have forever to think about whether to forgive them or not; and if we have hurt someone, we don’t have forever to amend that relationship. Maybe somebody here needs to pick up the phone today and call someone and forgive them for the hurt they caused, because indeed we don’t have forever .

This concept reminds me of two life stories.

First story.... I had two friends, let me refer to them as Friend A & Friend B. They both wanted to study pharmacy and eventually they had the opportunity to do so. They were both offered the programme and obviously obstacles came when it was time to start the course but Friend A decided that she would pull through despite the challenges and the odds that were stacked against her. She was going to start anyway and just continue. Friend B had challenges as well, but she decided not to go for it.

Friend A pushed on and finished the course. By the time she finished the four year programme, Friend B had not even started. 10 years later, which was the last time I checked on both of them, Friend B had still not started the programme.

See, we don't have forever .

Second story.....and this is the one that really thought me this concept that indeed we don't have forever . I had a very good friend called Martin Kiyingi. He cares for people and is very good at staying in touch with people. As a matter of fact, he calls me more than I do call him, he is such a caring person. Sometimes I return his calls, sometimes I don’t but Martin is just great at staying in touch with people.

Now that sounds like something anyone can do until I tell you about the health challenge which paralysed Martin from neck downwards, he is wheel chair bound. The only parts of his body he could move were his head and his right thumb which he uses to control the joy stick on his electric wheel chair. Martin needed constant care, he had a Carer with him all the time. Martin cannot write, Martin cannot pick up a phone to call, Martin cannot feed himself, he cannot clothe himself, cannot bathe himself, cannot walk but then he still calls to check up on how myself and many other people are doing.

One day Martin called me to inform me that he was not feeling very well, he was in hospital. Later on he called me to let me know he had been discharged from hospital. The last time I spoke to Martin was on a Thursday and I promised I will come and see him the next day and indeed I scheduled to see him between 1pm and 2pm during my lunch break on Friday.

I also told a mutual friend of ours that I was going to see Martin at 1pm on Friday. I started working on a project on Friday and it took longer than I expected. I felt like I couldn’t leave the project at this stage and decided that I would just push through. I didn’t finish the project until 1.35pm that Friday and I knew that if I went to Martin's house, I would not be back by 2pm, which was the end of my lunch break and as I have done in previous times, I thought, I would catch-up with Martin later on.

6pm on the same day, my mutual friend came into my office and asked, David – you planned to go to Martin earlier today, did you see him. I said ‘Oh no’ I couldn’t, I was quite busy but I still plan to go and see him. My friend said guess what, I just got a call from another friend who said Martin died an hour earlier at home – wow!!!

Immediately, I went to Martin’s house, lo and behold, I saw Martin's lifeless body in his wheel chair, in his living room. For whatever reason, he had chocked on his food and lost consciousness, right there in his living room and I thought to myself - we don’t have forever .

How many of us have ever been in an exam before and you ran out of time? You didn’t finish but the time was up! This is why we should ‘Make the most of the time’.

We don’t have forever. And because we don’t have forever – you need to make the most of your time.

How do you make the most of your time, there are three ways:

• Brevity of Life
  
• Deliberate with your time
  
• Review yourself
  

We must always remind ourselves about the brevity of life. Why? This is the only way we will be conscious , deliberate and intentional about the greatest resource and asset that God has given us. I have discovered that ‘Brevity of Life’ helps me to:

• Be grateful for the things that I have
  
• Appreciate the relationships in my life
  
• Be a better steward of the things that have been given to me

You’ve heard that saying “Life is short”, that is very true, life is too short. So remind yourself of the brevity of life, because life is indeed too short. You can do this by:

• Putting it as a reminder on your phone, it can be the first statement or last statement you say to yourself every day – just as a reminder. When you remember that life is too short, it will remind you that we don't have forever.
  

Brevity of Life

To make the most of your time is for you to be deliberate with your time. Every morning the Creator charges another 24 hours into our account to use . We are more productive when we realise that the resources we have are limited. So our time is limited, there are only 24hours in a day.

It is human nature to be more conscious , deliberate and intentional about any resource we know we don't have a lot of. Time is the basic unit of our lives, it is the building block of our lives. As cells are the units of our body and pence is the unit of the pound sterling we spend, so time is the unit of our lives and the people that made a long lasting impact within the time frame given to them (called lifespan) are those who are conscious , deliberate and intentional about the use of their time.

To be deliberate with your time, you can start by:

• Taking an account of how you plan to spend your day before it starts
  
• Taking an account of how you have spent your day and learn from it for the next day
  
• Listening to time management programmes that will help you take control of your time
  

Be deliberate with your time

Busyness is the enemy of progress because it gives you the illusion of activity but that does not always mean productivity. When busyness sets in, it is possible to lose track of where we are going or what we are doing.

Life is busy, demands are being placed on us constantly by work, family, friends, groups, relative – one does not necessarily wait for the other, hence the expression " juggling balls ". But when you review yourself, you check your progress, you refine your goals.

The concept of reviewing yourself is something I call a PITSTOP . A Pitstop is derived from the formular 1 sport, which refers to a period and a place where the driver goes to fine tune what is working, repair that is broken and refresh for the journey ahead.

Your pitstop could be the:

• 15 minutes you spend before going to bed to review the day and plan for tomorrow.
  
• It could be 1 hour you spend every week to review the ending week and planning for the new week.
  
• It could be a long vacation / weekend that you take once in 3 or 4 months to review how your year is going
  

Whatever it is, review yourself

Remember, we don’t have forever and because we don’t have forever, you need to make the most of your time by:

1. Reminding yourself of the brevity of life
2. Being deliberate with your time and
3. Reviewing yourself