Seize The Time

My neighbor and I were reflecting on the tragedy that took Kobe Bryant, his daughter, Gigi and the other souls aboard that helicopter to their unimaginable and heartbreaking fate. My neighbor said “Man, he never really had a chance to enjoy his retirement.” I said “Doesn’t seem like does it?” But after a while of thinking on it, something spoke to me concerning the time that Kobe, the legend had and how he used that time while on this earth. Truth is, we could learn a lot and challenge ourselves to find resolve when looking at this man’s life, and how he intentionally decided to make it all that it could afford for him. The main thing that I noticed that Kobe did was seize the time, every time, for every moment. He seized every stage that was set before him and every goal he set before himself. He wasted nothing and raised the bar of self-preparation, discipline and desire in each of those moments.

For me, Kobe understood one thing that perhaps many of us do not…he understood the value of time and made time valuable for himself and all those around him. He didn’t procrastinate or settle……he seized. While there have been millions who have lived and will live a large quantity of years, how many will say their years were of sound quality and every moment was seized? Don’t get me wrong, we all want the quantity to be abundant…. but are we just cashing in the time and surviving…or are we focusing on the big picture which is, time is precious and certainly not promised? This tragedy has made me check my management and made me realize how precious each one those 86,400 seconds in a day are to me. This has made me take an inventory of the wasted time and pushed me to find resolve in facilitating the process of achieving my dreams and reaching my goals.

In the end, reflecting back to the conversation between by neighbor and I, I suppose you don’t have to retire if you love the life you’re living. Kobe left the NBA court but he didn’t leave his time unaccounted for. He simply switched gears and continued seizing the time, the moments and the goals he had as he always had done…. with those he loved.