What would you do with a golden key that opened a whole new world to you but to which you really weren’t supposed to have access? Would you keep it secret that you had it? Would you use it? Would it scare you? Would you get rid of it?

I think how one responds to this question depends on if the key was a physical key or a mental key. For example, if the golden key opened a safe deposit box with funds that could save the world from hunger, or held the cure to Ebola, I think that might be a worthy cause for using the key to get the funds or the serum especially if there was no known owner of the box. On the other hand, if the golden key was guarding a vault with information that could harm people if I opened it, I would attempt to find a way to return it to its owner trusting that there was a valid reason for keeping things locked up. Those are answers to what to do with a physical golden key, but what do you do with a mental one?

Aren’t we all given a golden key daily? That key is time. It’s the only true democratic thing in this world. Everyone is given the same number of minutes or seconds on any given day. I know some will argue that some people’s lives are longer than others but that proves my point in a way. What do you do with your golden key of time? Do you make the most of it by trying to earn more? Do you squander it watching TV you don’t even like? Do you try to connect on a deeper level with your friends and relations? What do you do with your time? To me its the golden key that seems elusive because there never seems to be enough and yet we all have access to the same amount. Our lives are so full of things to do, places to go, people to meet, that we forget the preciousness of the moment in which we find ourselves.

The next time you feel harried, take a moment to use that golden key to look around you and relish being alive and experiencing all you can in that moment. Make that moment special and just be.