The gift of TIME…(My 9th speech at Toastmasters Orators Club)
Recently an advertisement of titan watches caught my attention...
Set against the backdrop of festive night in Paris, it features actress
Kalki smiling at a family celebrating Diwali nearby. Her husband joins her and
notices the celebrations. He proceeds to click a picture of it on his mobile.
Annoyed Kalki asks him what she must do to get his undivided attention and
complains to him that, he is spending more time with phone rather that spending
time with her. Guy replies, “Come on yaar..It was you who gifted the phone to me,
why are you jealous of it now?” Then she asks him a wonderful question “If I were to gift you 'time', will you
spend that with me?” and while saying so she slips a watch onto his wrist.
Good afternoon to one and all...
That advertisement did not really make me appreciate the beauty of titan
watches, but it did make me realize the importance of spending time with loved
ones.
Many
things aren’t equal for all of us, but everyone gets same 24 hours a day. And
it is up to us, how to spend and with
whom to spend that time.
If
we subtract the 8 hours of sleep from 24 hours, we are left with 16 hours. Out
of which we sped 8-10 hours in office and 2 hours in travelling…So we are
dedicating around 80% of our productive 16 hours to work …We are remaining with
only 20% of time in which we are entirely exhausted and worn out .Where’s the
time for loved ones? Should you sacrifice 80% of time to takeout time for loved
ones?? No…. let me explain to you with the help of an analogy.
My
weight is 45 kg. We all are made up of 80% water that means if I remove
moisture from my body, my weight will be 9 kg. So to reduce my weight, Shall I you
stop drinking water altogether. Does that make any sense to you?? You cannot be
fit and fine by not drinking water. What you have to do in order to be fit is ‘exercise’,
and for that we need to take efforts. The very thought of exercising daily is
frightening but in the long run that helps to keep you fit and fine.
Similarly
in order to give enough time to our loved one we need not have to sacrifice
that 80 % of time…that does not make any sense…We you have to take efforts to spend that remaining
20% time in which we are exhausted with loved ones qualitatively with our loved
one, believe me that will reduce your exhaustion.
The worst thing is being right
next to each other, yet miles apart. In relationships distance is not measured
in kilometers, but in affection. Lacks
of concern, hurts more than any other pain, so don’t neglect someone you
care. Be in touch with those who matters
to you. Because a day will come when the person that matters to you won’t be
around you anymore. Maybe that day will came so unexpectedly, that you could do anything to
have them back into your lives. Any that day could be the day when it will be too late to tell loved
ones how much they meant to you over the years.
Today I request all of you to do something for your loved
ones which you kept on postponing for a long while, due to busy schedule. If
you are staying with your family, have a real fun time with them, take them out
on a surprise dinner. Pay attention to what your spouse has to say,
take time to listen and appreciate.
If you are staying away from your family make a call and tell how much they
mean to you or make a surprise visit to them. Make a phone call to your
grandparents and let them know that you care for them. Go and catch up with
your school or college friend whom you wanted to meet for a long while but kept
on postponing. Gift your time to someone you care, because you never know what
will happen the next moment and you don’t want to regret, right? To make you
really understand the importance of giving time to someone special, I will
recite a poem.
Around the corner I have a friend,
In this great city that has no end;
Yet the days go by, and weeks rush on,
And before I know it a year is gone,
And I never see my old friend's face,
For Life is a swift and terrible race.
He knows I like him just as well,
As in the days when I rang his bell,
And he rang mine. We were younger then,
And now we are busy, tired men:
Tired with playing a foolish game,
Tired with trying to make a name.
"To-morrow," I say, "I will call on Jim
"Just to show that I'm thinking of him."
But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,
And distance between us grows and grows.
Around the corner -- yet miles away...
"Here's a telegram sir..."
"Jim died
today."
And that's what we get, and deserve in the end:
Around the corner, a vanished friend.
Thank you.
What a beautiful description of a common issue...value of time.
ReplyDeleteI liked the way you end i.e. with a beautiful rhyming poem.