Keep your eye on the prize

I watched a movie a while back, In Time, I believe was the title. The movie focused on the "haves" and the "haves not" but with a twist: those who were the richest dealt in the commodity of "time". In the end, the whole house of cards fell because the ability to build a sturdy, sustainable system always involves a firm foundation. Time ended up being too easy a commodity to wrench away from the few and give to the many.

In the movie, everyone has implanted in his/her arm a clock that registers the amount of time left in one's life. During fights, people can grab the arm of another and siphon away time. In order to win the fight, one had to remain focused on the fight. At one point, when the protagonist is in the midst of one such battle, he diverts his attention for a few seconds and literally hours tick away from his personal clock - leaving him drained physically. He then remembered that in order to remain focused, one cannot watch the clock.

There's a life lesson in the staying focused on the task at hand rather than the possibility of losing something precious. How often do I gather together wonderful things that make life great only to worry about how I can keep it forever? We live in a community where many people leave houses open all day. I wonder how important knowing the neighbor and caring for the neighbor is when determining the safety of one's own neighborhood? How important is it for me to make my neighborhood a hospitable place in order to keep what I need?

It seems to me that focusing on what matters most becomes the more important endeavor in all of life. As a friend of mine so often reminds me, "We get in the most trouble when we get off in the weeds" - I think he likes to golf, but finds himself in the weeds too much...but that's another story.

How many of the problems of life could be solved merely by focusing on the importance of life itself instead of all of the trivialities and novelties of everyday life? Of course, I enjoy my CDs but would life be less without them? Of course, books make my life more enjoyable, but would I be lessened any if I had to walk into a library more often and borrow them, instead of having my own?

Keep your eye on the prize, Tim, keep your eye on the prize.

Peace.