LEADERSHIP REFLECTIONS

As we begin another new year, I reflect on the fact that time is undoubtedly THE most valuable thing in existence, fitting almost every part of an English term.  Most definitely a noun, time is a place where memories are made.  The proper noun of Israel where my children shared their b’nai mitzvah with other children on Masada.  The beach where we spent our time in Tel Aviv and the people, we met that will forever be a part of the most amazing experience we shared as a family.  It is a verb that includes the work we put in to create the home we share as a family, cooking, cleaning, working, providing and loving with and for each other.  It is an adverb to describe how it has transpired – graciously, happily, tearful and reflective.  An adjective that describes the beautiful memories that were created – vibrant, blurred, nostalgic, etched. It is necessary for us to survive.  It allows us to breath, to cope, to laugh to grow.  Its power is elusive and lulling at the same time.  It can fester like an uncontrollable infection (as we all felt during isolation during the pandemic), yet it can briskly allow the sun to rise and set on a day that you wanted to last a lifetime.  Time also has a power of its own.  It allows us to heal, to grieve to celebrate.  It’s events in life that remind of us of its preciousness – mourning the passing of a loved one, celebrating life’s milestones – graduation, marriage, the birth of a child. It is an event that can transpire within it that can change our lives forever and something we may have no control over.  A car accident, a winning lottery ticket and being at the right place at the right time to meet that one person that can change our life forever.  And, like a word it is something that we cannot take back, we cannot fully recreate and perhaps something that we are all guilty of taking advantage of.  How many times have we all said, “I wished we could have changed …that.”  As the 2023 calendar progresses, we must all be reminded of this.  We must all take TIME to reflect on where we are at now and how we can make tomorrow better.  It is within this most precious word that I ask myself and implore you to ask, “How will I spend this most valuable present?”.