Are you aware of how much of your time is being stolen? It is an irreparable loss. Time is the canvas on which we paint the story of our lives. We carry this picture with us into the higher dimensions and there its analysis and interpretation determines the next stage of our journey beyond this world.
Each one of us is given so much time on earth and no more. Sometimes through prayer and miracle we get an extension. But that extension is not open ended.

Given the preciousness of time, it is not surprising that just as there are schemers and scammers trying to steal our money, so are there  time thieves trying to steal our time. There is a term used for this theft of time. It is called “shadow work.”  It means all the unpaid jobs we do on behalf of businesses and organizations. Businesses and professional groups are now handing customers, clients, and patients many jobs that salaried staff once did. For example, health care providers ask us to fill out detailed surveys to give them feedback on recent office visits. Craig Lambert has  written in the Boston Globe: “We have entered a self-serve world, one where self service means no service.”  Charles Darwin would call those who steal our time freeloaders. Wherever possible, we should not let them get away with it. We should remember what the Psalmist told us: “Teach us to count our days rightly that we may obtain a wise heart” (Psalm 90:12).