[notice] A fortnightly column by Anna Heydenrych[/notice]
I always like to keep some hair grips with me in case of a hair emergency. These little metal clips can be bought in packs of about 20 to 30 units and are one of my staple accessories. So when they run out, I make a point of purchasing a new pack right away, lest I be caught with a stray strand of hair and no way to fix it.
The other day, while scrimmaging through my stockpile of hair accessories, I realised that I was down to my last two hair grips (the minimum quantity required for a hair fix). It always happens this way: I buy a new pack and then, knowing that I have a newly topped-up supply, I use them without much regard of where they end up at the end of the day. The next day I just go back for more. So inevitably, I end up with two grips. These two grips then become like gold to me. I look after them with careful attention, knowing at all times where they are. I can go through the first 20+ hair grips in less than a week, but the last two can last me up to six months.
As I carefully removed the last two grips from my hair accessory draw and placed them safely in a pocket in my handbag, I thought about how easy it is to be wasteful with something when it is plentiful. Hair grips are the same thing whether I have many of them or just two, yet I value and treat them differently depending on the level of my supply.
I don’t care too much about all my lost hair grips, but thinking about them got me thinking about the relationship between the way I value time and use this commodity. When I was 18, I felt I had all the time in the world to achieve my goals and realize my dreams, but as I am getting closer and closer to 30, I realize that time should not be treated like a brand new pack of hair grips. I should regard each and every day as a gift. I should not let time pass without pressing in to God and finding out what He has planned for me for my time on this earth. I don’t want to wait until my last two years to realize what I could have done with my time had a valued it more.
True! Another thought provoking column, Anna.