The Value of a Minute
Guest post by Cheryl Nordyke
If you could have a conversation with yourself from 20 years ago, what would you tell yourself? For me, I would remind myself of the value of time and how rapidly it passes. It is the one thing nobody can buy more of no matter how much money we have. This summer is the summer of my only daughter’s junior-to-senior year. As she gets in her car and drives to her summer job, I realize that my life and her life is changing at such a rapid pace and once she is off in college, our relationship will change as well.
I remember the twos, and she was a good girl for the twos (however, people would tell me, “wait until she is a teenager”). Knowing that she would never be two again, I found things to love about that age like bedtime stories and days at the park. When she hit the age of 8 I remember disagreements, yet I remembered she would never be 8 again. When she turned 13 and texting became an obsession and it seemed that I couldn’t get through, I found things for us to do and to appreciate about her being 13.
In moments of frustration we sometimes make comments as parents that “we can’t wait.” We can’t wait until they can walk, or can’t wait until they can be left alone or drive themselves around. Then that day comes and we want to turn back the clock, slow down time and be able to redo it or appreciate it a little more.
I have always gotten the value of a minute, an hour, a day. There is a part of being a parent that can’t be described unless you experience it. It doesn’t have to be your own child. Just caring for, protecting, providing, and watching a child grow into an adult pulls at your heart in way that is both rewarding and sad at the same time. I am thankful for the person I have become because of being a parent. I am thankful for the opportunity to have such a wonderful daughter. However, I am most thankful for knowing that each day was mine only once and for making memories at each age and in each phase of her life that will last us both a lifetime.
Image: The Bath by Mary Cassatt
Cheryl Nordyke and Kim Wierman are the founders of Waves of Gratitude - a company that exists because of their belief that when life presents you with professional and personal difficulties, a strong foundation of gratitude can help turn those difficulties into opportunities. The owner’s resolve to build a future based on a foundation of gratitude is unwavering. The pair created an online store to give everyone the opportunity to “wear” powerful symbols of gratitude, jewelry and apparel made to personalize the concepts of hope, love, legacy, creativity, optimism, inspiration, confidence and awakening that make everyone beautiful inside and out.
