I don't know whether it's just me, but I find these eight words from an unknown source worth a page of wisdom: “A free lunch is only found in mousetraps.”
Recently, during my lunch hour, I was standing by the food counter in a local cafeteria. I notice a young father at the same counter. He had three small children in tow and was asking them what they wanted to eat. The youngest child, probably four or five years old and so short in height that she couldn't see into the food display, asked, "Do we get something free?" "No", he said." I have already paid for it."
Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Clause. But unfortunately, there is no such thing as a free lunch.
Hope as we may, we cannot get "something for nothing". As people have discovered, even though something appears as "free", there is always a cost. There is never something for nothing. In order to get, we have to give. This is an observation that many people miss.
Sometimes we give money; sometimes we give our talent, sometimes we exchange knowledge. In all cases, we must give time to get the "something we desire."
I hear people say, "I would like to have time to do that." Or, "I wish I had time to get an education or an advance degree, read a book, travel, exercise, take up a hobby, etc ." Each time I hear that longing, I am reminded that we all have the same amount of time—60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour and 24 hours in a day.
A person's race, education, age, nationality, or economic position can't extend, bend, buy, barter, or create time. Time is time. How we prioritize time is the differentiator. People can generally make time to do what they want to do; it is not really the time but the prioritization that is important. But, because time is inelastic, we may not have the time to do all we want to do.
Author and salesman extraordinary, Harvey Mackay said, "Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it, you can never get it back."
The appropriate utilization of time is superior to the conservation of time. In fact, the case is made that there is no such activity as conserving time. People can conserve water for later use, but the minute that just went by can't be captured and saved for future use. Water stored behind a dam is potential power. Minutes are always kinetic in nature, they are powerful in the moment, not at some future time. A minute of time has no future nor a past, only a present. Minutes are not found but often lost. An old Proverb states, "Lost time is never found again."
There is no conservation of time; only utilization of time. If you plan on being a success, expect to spend time on activities that lead to goal achievement. "It is not enough to be busy," wrote Henry David Thoreau, "so are the ants. The question is, what are you busy about?
HOG THOUGHT: As there is no free lunch, there is no free time. Successful people don't merely spend time. They invest it by using it wisely. People can't buy, borrow, spend or steal time. They can only barter time. Make sure in the exchange you get a good deal.
HOG QUOTE: "Remember, you can earn more money, but when time is spent is gone forever." — Zig Ziglar
HOG ACTION: Quickly turn a deft ear to the "beggar" who ask you, "Can you spare some time?"
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