I'm sure you've all heard those riddles about a father, a grandfather, and a son being in an accident, or having 40 cents in your pocket and one isn't a nickel, and so on. I've always loved those little riddles. One in particular really speaks to me... it's the one that starts "I am free, but priceless..."
The answer, of course, to the "I am free but priceless" riddle is "time".
Remember the first time you got an IV and someone, maybe your husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, best friend, or coworker, thought you were crazy? They don't get the gist of the time riddle. You do.
The gist of the time riddle is this: I can get more money. I can get more stuff. I can work harder and longer and try and try and try, but no matter what I do, I can't get more time. Time is important to me. Money, though nice, doesn't measure up. Reminds me that Coach Darrell Royal once hit a golf ball in the woods and after a few seconds of looking for it told the kid with whom he was playing "let's go son. I have more golf balls than time."
So your friends thought you were being "bougie" by getting an IV after running, or working out in the heat, or after food poisoning, or partying too hard, or the flu, or whatever it was that brought you into an IV center. They thought you could just turn the thermostat to 68, drink plenty of sports drinks, relax on the couch, watch a little TV, go to bed at 9:45, and be mostly better by tomorrow afternoon. They think that instead you "wasted" a hundred and fifty bucks to go get an IV.
Here's what they didn't see: You spent about an hour in a lounge chair, sipping a drink, eating a snack bar, watching TV, and getting the fluids and additives you needed to feel like yourself again, and you SAVED YOUR WEEKEND. You actually bought time. Their way you would've still been sitting on your couch suffering and wasting a Saturday, but your way you were back on track. You could go shopping, play another round of golf, head to a patio with friends, spend time at the pool, knock out a little yard work or cleaning, or anything you needed or wanted to do. You got your DAY BACK. Moreover, you were just as good or better Sunday, and didn't miss out on anything then. The people who stayed home Saturday because "getting an IV is ridiculous" missed LIFE. Not just Saturday, they didn't feel right until late Sunday afternoon, if even then.
The person who was wasteful was the person who gave away a weekend. Wasting time, what little time we're given, especially when we're able to go and do, should be considered a sin if it isn't. I'm 53. I don't know how many more rounds of golf or afternoons on the patio I have, and I'm not about to waste even one of them.
I can get more possessions. I can get more money. I can get a shiny car or new clothes. What I can't create out of thin air, no matter how hard I try, is TIME. Time on the golf course with my Dad, time playing guitar with Emma, time at a nice patio restaurant with Mom and Rachel. So, when something crops up that's going to steal TIME from me, like an illness, a hangover, dehydration, a migraine, or anything else we can treat, I'm willing to trade my treasure for time.
Just like you did. You don't have to convince them. That's okay. Let the people who are fine with giving up their precious time do it. Not you though. You know that time is the one thing you can never get back, and you aren't willing to miss a minute of it. I applaud you. You know. And that's priceless. You're that person who knows that time is precious, and walking into our place proves that you value your time, and the life you live across it, more than your dollars and dimes.
You were right the whole time.
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