When Will It Ever Be the "Right" Time?

I pulled out a beautiful wooden box where I stored valuable little trinkets from the back of my closet this weekend. My son gave it to me a few years back as a Christmas present. I stored little photos and charms, and just about anything that was tiny, so that I wouldn't lose them. 

Busyness

But during the past eight years, I've moved three times. Eventually this little wooden box got pushed to the back of my closet. I kept telling myself that I'd eventually move it forward and put it somewhere to display it. That time never seemed to come. I was busy dealing with a difficult relationship. I moved. I went to school to upgrade some courses. I moved again. I pursued my undergraduate degree. I moved again. I was back in school studying graduate courses, but the house was also very small. I seemed to be continuously busy and it was never the right time. 

Is There Ever The Right Time 

But, I started to think about "when it would be the "right" time to use the things that I like or bring things out of storage?" It never seemed to be the right time because I was busy either moving or going to school. 

This weekend, before I go for my leave of absence, I decided to do an overhaul in my home - tossing out academic papers, reorganizing my workout area, and dusting in corners that haven't seen daylight for a very long time. I came across this beautiful wooden box. To open the box, you had to slide the top layer horizontally off to the side, and within this top layer, there was a piece of glass that held some tiny pictures. I went to open it, and the glass fell through, about 1/2 way down into the box which jarred it from opening completely. The box, itself was in pretty good shape (although the mechanisms or the hinges weren't), but the glass and the photos had worn. At first, I was motoring through it like it was another inconvenience. Then I stopped to think about it for a while. 

The Meaning of the Wooden Box

I kept this box because it had meaning. It was a piece of history in time that I could hold onto. Every time I looked at it, it reminded me of my son and the day he gifted it to me. Although I kept it in storage, out of sight, I "intended" to pull it out at one time or another and use it. But that time never seemed to come. There was always something to do and no place to put it. As I looked at it, I came to realize that even when we "store" things hoping to use them at a later date, they still age, they still degrade with time. Somehow, I kept thinking that "one day" I would have the right (or perfect) place in my home to display the box. That day never came and during the time that I waited to display it, the box deteriorated. 

Everything Gets Old

It was a melancholy kind of moment, knowing that the things that I want to hold dear in my heart will eventually deteriorate, age, and die. Sure the memories are still there within me, but the tangible items (such as the wooden box my son gave me) will bring back the memories. Without the box, no doubt, the memories will fade. 

I retrieved the items that were in the wooden box, but it got me thinking. I have items stored (that are still working) in my house that I don't use. Why not give them away. I did. I also have pictures and some trinkets stored out of sight. Why not bring them out so that I can see them. I have. 

The point of this post is that many of us store items in out cupboards and closets, hoping, some day, to use them or display them. But, I'll ask you, "when will there ever be the "right" time." Life keeps us busy with stuff, too busy for that matter. We need to slow down and think (or rather reflect) on what's important.

Purpose

I seem to be reflecting a lot more these days. Perhaps because there has been so many revelations and turns in my life. It's hard not to stop and ask, "what's important?" I know my time is limited, and this question seems to be so much more relevant now than ever before so that I make better choices about how I pursue my life and what I want out of it. 

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