There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the important thing.”
–Brian Tracy

America’s football fans, and there are tens of millions, must feel the letdown. College and pro football are over, at least for the next several months. If football’s your sport, there’s an empty feeling now, right? You might as well not turn on the television on a Saturday or Sunday. After all, unless you watch golf, or you’re one of the three people who follow the NBA, the sports season is over.

Just kidding about the NBA, so no snarky rebuttals, please!!

Of course, baseball’s spring training is ramping up, but those in charge of America’s pastime have seen fit to alter the game in such a way that Babe Ruth would be turning over in his grave were he not so cramped in there! The issue? You guessed it–the games take too much time to play!

So, what to do with one’s free time? It deserves careful consideration. The two things that have finite limits on this Earth are land and time. Well, maybe gold, too; hence, the gold standard. At least, that’s what the economists say (I think!). There’s only so much land on earth. Likewise, each of us has only so much time. Land can be surveyed and quantified, but the length of one’s lifetime is an unknown–at least, to us mere mortals. And therein lies the rub.

I just finished streaming all nine seasons of Seinfeld. Not in a weekend, mind you, but over several months. Am I proud of it? Not really! But I’m glad I did it, because it brought me so much joy and so many laugh-out-loud moments. Sometimes, one has to do something “brainless,” like watching a classic television series … or a favorite sport.

Just my opinion, but everything we see, hear, read, or sense in any fashion that elicits emotion is time well spent. Laughter, tears, sadness, joy, introspection–none of these things are bad for us, and all of them enrich the quality of our lives.

Each of us must decide how best to spend our time. What do you consider to be the “important” things? Faith and family? Sure, for most. Beyond that, everyone will have a different answer. Meeting a friend for coffee? Dinner out? A good book? The symphony? The list goes on and on.

Another reality: the older we get, the more likely most of us are to realize we’ll never do anything great. Here, “great” is a very subjective term, but you know what I mean: an invention, a discovery, a Pulitzer. Things that change the world. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of many people to whom this quote is attributed: “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.” Of course, he did both.

Perhaps our free time is best spent doing small things greatly: a home visit; snail-mailing a simple, handwritten note; a timely phone call; meeting someone for coffee or an adult beverage. Notice this list involves interpersonal relationships–beyond our faith, the most important thing in our lives. Loneliness, after all, is a harsh roommate.

We’ll all decide for ourselves how to spend the limited hours of our lives. Choose wisely. The seminal word here is “limited.” In my case, maybe my roughly ninety hours of Seinfeld will pay dividends. Who knows how much time all those belly laughs might have added to my life span!

I’d love to have you comment about ways you spend you time–seriously or frivolously. There are no wrong answers!