The good news and the bad news

The bad news is that time flies. The good news is that you are the pilot – I love this quote. I wish I could wear it as a sign with flash neon lights. As parents we are all too aware of just how quickly time flies when we see how quickly our kids grow up and can hardly recall those baby moments. Do you remember when you were in school how long it would take to pass the last 5 minutes of a math class and now as an adult each hour of our work days fly by so quickly with little decrease in our “to do” list? In our tech obsessed world time flies even faster. We need to remember that we are pilots of our destiny.

Gavin and I counsel people who are simply lost, without purpose and direction. We have a simple solution to this dilemma. We tell people that each night before they go to sleep think of five good things they did and three things that they could have done better. It is sometimes so hard to think of the good things. This exercises sensitizes one, makes one strive to be better and find things with meaning.

As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks says “We are as big as the ideals by which we live” We have only one life to live, so we had better choose those ideals carefully. We have to make space for the things that really matter: relationships, marriage, the family, being part of a community, being part of a tradition and its wisdom, giving to others and sharing with them our joys and grief.