the 8,401st day of my life

I recently heard someone say, "I count the days because I want to make them count."

Today (January 3rd, 2012) is the 8,401st day of my life. I sit here with my fingers resting on the keyboard and wonder to myself if those 8,401 days have really counted for much. If I'm perfectly honest with myself, I know that many of those days could have been a lot more productive. 

The older I get, the more I realize the value of time. Until now, I never fully understood the old saying "there just isn't enough time in the day." In fact, I think time is more valuable than money, and being the frugal person that I am, I wonder what my days could look like if I spent my time as carefully as I did my money. Even with a job that requires 50+ hours a week, I know there are ways I can be more efficient with my time.

Knowing that this is the 8,401st day of my life, you could (assuming you had the time, an understanding of some basic math, and the knowledge that I was born the year after a leap year) conclude that today is my birthday. With my date of birth falling so close to New Years, my resolution has special significance because what I do in 2012 will also be what characterizes me as a 23-year-old.

3rd Avenue from my rooftop.

In this, my 24th year of life, I want to be able to slow down and enjoy more of life's simple pleasures. For me that means coffee, sunsets, reading, writing, playing guitar, good conversations with friends. I want 2012 to count, so for the next 363 days I'm going to be more intentional about how I spend my most precious commodity: time.