Time is a curious thing. Sometimes you wish you had more time, and sometimes you wish time would hurry up so something would end. When you’re young time feels endless, but as you get older time feels like it’s bolting along so quickly that you don’t have enough time to really look and see what is going by.
What’s even more strange is that we exchange our time for money. The more time we exchange usually means the more money we’ll make. Is it really worth it to spend all that time making money? Would you be better off with less money and more time? Isn’t time the real thing that we all want in the end anyways? Ironically you’re exchanging your time for money which you can use to have time off and experience things.
If you’re one of the lucky ones that has found something to do everyday that you love which you can then in turn exchange for money then you’re way ahead of most of the people in this world. Without a doubt though, Time is the most valuable thing we have and we’re not getting anymore of it. The day you were born is the most time you will ever have. Ever since that day your time has been going up in value because you have that much less of it.
Check out these top 3 ways that time is worth more than money:
1- Money is money and time is time
A dollar bill will buy you some candy or a soda. You can put a definite value on the money that you have. What’s the value of time though? Is your time worth $10 an hour? What about $5000 an hour? Can you really put a price on time? What’s the value of you spending time with your loved ones? Can you really put a monetary value on those experiences?
It’s a strange thing because as time goes on it becomes more valuable because you have less and less of it. There’s no way for you to buy more time. At the same instance, your time is going up in value because you have less of it therefore it should be more valuable as you get older. But then at the same instance the value of time will always remain at the same infinite value even though you’re running out of it. The value of time is priceless and the most valuable thing you have both at the same time.
A family heirloom can be priceless where if you lose it you won’t be able to replace it. However that heirloom will also have a monetary value to someone else. Your time is most valuable to you, and your loved ones. A stranger will likely not find the same value in your time as you whereas they would see the monetary value in that family heirloom. For something as simple as time it really turns out to be very complicated.
2- There’s no way to make more time
No matter what happens you can always find some way to make money. You can find a job or maybe win the lottery. But there’s absolutely no way for you to make more time. You can’t buy more time. You can’t hope to trade for more time at the end of your life. There’s just no way to do it. What’s even more is that your time is unpredictable. You could live to 100 or you could die tomorrow. What’s the point of all that money you make if you don’t even have the time to use it?
Think about that the next time you decide to find that second job so that you can afford that new car. Is it really worth your time to make enough money to buy that new car? Would you maybe rather be spending that time doing something else?
3- Time makes you happy, not money
If you ask around you’ll find that what people want is more time to make them happy. Money can definitely help, but it’s not the reason for the happiness. People are happy because of the time they have to spend with each other. Or the time they have to spend doing the things that they love.
If you were to ask someone what are the happiest memories they have of their life then you’ll likely get answers that involve experiences and spending time doing something special. Although some of those things may need money to do you won’t hear someone telling you that their best memory was when they got a huge bonus one Christmas. Or the memory of them buying that new tv.
Although that tv may make you happy, what is actually making you happy is the time you spend with that tv. It isn’t the money you spent on it. If you don’t have the time to enjoy the tv then what’s the point? Money can definitely help in making memories, but it’s ultimately the time you spend that makes you happy. The root of the happiness is time, not money.
Time is such an amazing thing. Even writing this article I’m wondering am I spending my time the way I should be spending it? Why am I spending my time writing this article when I could be spending it hanging out with a loved one? Time is an interesting subject. It’s definitely worth more than money. My advice is spend it wisely, and spend it however you want to spend it. Funny, that’s also kind of how I think you should spend your money.