What is the value of time? We have all heard the expression “time is money” … In 2019 my family moved from Connecticut, where my wife and I grew up and spent our entire lives, to Saint Augustine, Florida due to a number of factors, once of which was my wife’s health.

Through the COVID pandemic, my wife’s auto-immune issue and the loss of my mother-in-law, we found ourselves selling our property in Florida and returning to Connecticut for respite, specifically for my wife who is still in the early stages of grieving, something I know all too well, losing my father in 2014.

Our time in St. Augustine allowed us to spend more time with our children, as the lifestyle and pace is much different in Florida versus Connecticut. In Florida we decided to take a hybrid approach to their education which combined virtual learning with homeschooling and public school.

Our three children have varied learning styles in place, tailored to how they learn best. The downside is the pressure it puts on my wife and I to ensure they are meeting the requirements needed to move on to higher education in the future. Something public and private school systems maintain and track for parents.

My wife has been a school teacher for 20+ years and has a certain standards we want our kids to maintain. That standard unfortunately started to slip as her mother was going through cancer treatments and eventually passed last fall.

Needing time to grieve and heal, the thought was selling our home in Florida and putting our kids back into the school system in Connecticut until the end of the school year would provide comfort allowing the kids to catch up with their education.

Perhaps reuniting them with old friendships would also bring added comfort to my wife and kids while we figure out our next move, evaluating where to plant permanent roots now that we’ve seen lifestyles from two completely different perspectives.

I’m actually writing this article in the Barnes & Noble where I wrote one of my original posts back in 2018. It’s surreal being back here as I thought this place was part of my past. Of course I have great memories growing up in Connecticut from youth to marriage with children. And as much as it’s nice to reflect on the past once in a while, it’s a place you don’t want to stay too long and get stuck in. Thinking about the past, that is. Often it prevents you from moving forward, or limits you from stretching and going after lofty goals you may want to achieve.

We have a tendency to romanticize about the good ole days or times. We want to re-create those memories or events yet time has passed and people have moved on or changed. Things can never go back to the way they were. It’s something we have to wrestle with and move on from. Easier said than done. This brings me back to the concept of time and “time is money”. Both have value.

As we had to make this choice about where we want to plant roots and how we want to educate our children I thought about all the time we’ve had together as a family over the last three years. Although figuring out their education has been stress on my spouse and I that we could never articulate into words, the time we’ve spent as a family unit we would not trade for anything.

I will never have to look back and say, I wish I had more time or spent more time with my kids or family. Especially at these critical years of their childhood. I was blessed to work for 5 years at The LEGO Group where my children were able to enjoy their dad coming home with LEGO sets during their prime childhood years with the last three years living 90 minutes from Disney World, Sea World and Universal Studios, taking day trips and some overnight visits.

The value of time is always about perspective and choice. It’s a trade off … It’s like the movie The Matrix. We have the choice to take the red or the blue pill (hypothetical of course). Sometimes we’re afraid to make the wrong choice when faced with a decision. But most of the time you can find the fruit in either decision, even when you may feel it’s the wrong one. It’s all about perspective.

I came across the illustration below that puts it all into perspective, where people are lined up waiting to go up to heaven. It reminds me of how, as kids, we would race to get to the front of the line to go out for recess. In life, God knows the order of when we will be called, but we don’t. We don’t know if we’re towards the head of the line or towards the back.

Although we always like to race or cut the recess line to get out to play quicker, let’s try to not rush our time here by wasting it on worrying about the choices we have to make. Instead lets try to enjoy where we are and the time we have in the present moment.

Whether you like it or not you’re in line. And at your appointed time you will go out to recess and never return to class. Knowing I’m in this line, I want to stay curious like a child, be of service to others and express myself through visual media.

I want to make sure I’m making the most of my time here, moving forward and continuing to use my time to learn, stretch, grow and love on my family. Likewise, I want to surround myself with people who are going to pour into me and love on my family, where I can also reciprocate.

My question to you today — At what cost and of what value are you getting out of the time you’re spending?

Godspeed!