Time belongs to no man.

“You have to dance beautifully in the box that you are comfortable dancing in… everybody has their own. It’s your job to perfect and make it as beautiful of a canvas as you can make it.” Kobe Bryant.

Only a week after the passing of legendary basketball star Kobe Bryant and his beautiful daughter Gianna, and I still don’t quite believe it.

I’ve never been much a basketball fan, I’m not much of a fan any of sport to be fair. But I’ve always had a great affinity with basketball being a black woman who grew up with a lot of American influence in terms of music, fashion and culture. Not to mention I seemed to have quite a thing for basketball players once upon a time.

But the passing of Kobe Bryant really floored me in a way that I could have never predicted. To see the impact this man had on the world for reasons so different to one another is remarkable. But ultimately it really did show me how much time is not guaranteed to a single one of us. Whether you have accumulated all the riches in the world or whether you are fighting against the extremities that come with poverty. Time belongs to no man.

So, what do you do with the time you have here in front of you? The irony of this, at this time of the year is the ambition we all have to set out “2020 goals” or vision boards, giving ourselves a timeline on the assumption that the time we have on this earth is ours to dictate. So, let’s say of the 12 months of this year you have planned for, if those were to be reduced to 3 months – would you still feel like you accomplished all you could?

We always hear quotes of ‘making the most of your now’, ‘being present’ or ‘tell your loved ones you love them whilst you can’ but how many of us can truly say they are capable of doing that.

I don’t even think I can claim to do this myself but I’m aware that every time I experience some kind of loss or hear of some type of loss, I remind myself to try. Try to be more present. Try to be more thankful. Try to make the most of your now. Then I do. For a few days, sometimes weeks I appreciate the life I have and how blessed I am to be where I am. Then before you know it the return of the mundane daily tasks that are often tied up with a lack of gratitude reappear.

So, my question is how do we learn to get this mentality into our day to day life? Living in the now.

Seeing day after day, returning home after a day at work, planning trips in advance and seeing time move enough for you to live out that well planned itinerary & capture moments is frankly such a gift.

A true gift that has been highlighted by the last week’s events. By a man who many of us didn’t even know but held in high esteem & idolised for many great qualities we can only dream to accomplish.

As we start this new week let’s remember that time belongs to no man. Make the most of your now & dance beautifully in your box.

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