Time, the coin of my realm

Time as well as money always seem to be in short supply in my life. I fear that in both cases the problem lies with me -- I spend both so unwisely. Flitter here, fuss there, waste time thinking about what I should be doing, where I should be going, why I'm not there already.... I am a follower of spontaneous consumption. I see it, I like it, I buy it. The Internet has certainly enabled that little weakness. Usually my husband curbs any spending concerns I might have. But time wasters -- I'm an expert.

I spend too much of my time thinking about what I should or would do. A great example. I have all kinds of fabric and books of patterns and ideas for making quilts. They fill a room in my house. I wander in there, finger the fabric, flip through a book, pick out a few that would be fun to make and think, "later."

My cousin goes to the library, finds a book about quilts that fascinates her and fits into her other interests of paper cutting and family history. She brings the book home and immediately begins constructing a quilt. What a great investment compared to me.

My money investments seem to run along the same lines. Perhaps I would have purchased some of that Apple and Yahoo stock way back when, if I hadn't spent so much time thinking about it and then concluded, "Maybe later...."

I'm finding that 'later' never comes.

There's also the fact that others are experts at investing my time and money. Bosses, family members, neighbors, friends, even strangers have an idea of what I should be doing. Telemarketers call with 'just what you need' suggestions and arm twisting. My sons are experts at finding ways to spend my money and know that I thoroughly enjoy spending it on both of them. But, the other day, I found a few lines by Carl Sandburg that reminded me that my money as well as my time are limited, finite, will come to an end one day and I am the only one who should be controlling at least the way my time is spent.

Time is the coin of your life.
It is the only coin you have,
and only you can determine how it will be spent,
Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you. -- Carl Sandburg