More Clustering

Because I have no time
To set my ladder up and climb
Out of the dung and the straw
Green poems laid in a dark store
Wither and grow soft
Like unturned apples in a loft.
-John Stallworthy

Without too much thinking, we are asked to choose three words from the poem, and to cluster around each word. I chose Time,Grow,Climb. I created a pageful of cluster for each word until I arrived at a statement for each, then I select one. Here it is:

The Most Important Time Is Now.

"I have time, that's all I have," I said this to L over a month ago when I offered to visit his parents in his absence, and see how they were.

But really, I was saying that to myself. I have only began to understand the importance of time as it is most often taken for granted. We arrive late at appointments, we vegetate, we switch channels poring over satellite stations;we choose to do nothing, and sometimes we do too much with so little time. We let time pass by participating in the humdrum of life's rituals, not understanding its richness. Some things take too long, and we wait in agony and irritation, often hurting the ones closest to us, and yet often, we look back saying, "Oh how time flies." Sometimes, when we close our eyes we are jolted by our past; there are regrets, and yes, sometimes, we can re-live the joys of the past.

It takes time to let go, but often, with my tempo, I force myself to rush on, to move on to the next phase, only to regress, and to waste more of that precious time. The most important time is now, and it is up to me how to use it. This time, I tell myself, don't settle, don't rush. No pressure, but to remember to use it wisely-- to understand where I want to be.

What I do today matters to me because I know it will shape my future. I choose life over death; to be grateful instead of sorrowful.I choose growth and learning over being stuck and bounded. I choose health and surround myself with love. I choose to focus in the now.

I have time, that's all I have, and I feel immensely rich.