Like Sands Through the Hourglass
It’s 1989, and I’m 9 years old. My parents worry about kids ending up on a milk carton, yet they let me walk to and from grade school. A journey of about three blocks, but it was an adventure! They were practicing “free-range parenting” before that was even a thing.
When I made it home from school, there was my sister. A senior in high school that had to keep up with the latest happening in soap opera land. Her favorite show: Days of Our Lives. If you remember the intro to the show, it goes something like this, “Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives…”
Days of Our Lives is reportedly going on an “indefinite hiatus” next year after 55 seasons. The character Jack Deveraux has been brought back from the dead, something like five times. Talk about longevity! But I digress. From scripture, we are encouraged to “redeem the time” (Ephesians 5, KJV), or to put it another way to “make the most of every opportunity” (NIV). All good things must come to an end, even Days of Our Lives.
One podcast that I listen to is EconTalk with Russ Roberts. Russ’ often describes economics as the study of how to get the most out of life. To quote Roberts, “(Economics is) about choices. It’s about understanding opportunity cost and using your time wisely. Our time is our scarcest resource… it’s the ultimate nonrenewable resource.”
That brings me back to the image of the grains of sand passing through the hourglass. What are you doing with your grains of sand? There goes another one.
When we tackle the various issues of financial planning, everything we discuss is a trade-off of some sort. Am I going to trade-off a year of my life for the combination of salary, benefits, and increases in Social Security income? In retirement, am I going to consume retirement assets for toys and other things or experiences?
This post is as much an admonishment or reminder for me as anything else. We must remember to value each moment, each grain of sand passing through the hourglass. We don’t know how many we have, but we do know time is finite and the scarcest resource we have.
The information provided here is for general information only and should not be considered an individualized recommendation or personalized investment advice.
