Time in a Bottle

A co-worker of mine recently died unexpectedly (I mean, he was young and I thought, relatively healthy). I didn't know him well, but what I do remember about him was his quick wit. At times like these, it causes you to take a sort of inventory of your life. At least if you are an analytical person like me. It makes you think about what you spend time on during the day and what will matter next week or next year.

I often go back to something I read when I was a teenager called "The Tyranny of the Urgent" by Charles Hummel. He writes about important things in life taking a backseat to the urgent things in life. Many times those urgent things are getting to the store on time, going to the gym everyday for 1.5 hours, eating. How do you focus on the important things and how do you even know what those are? I spend a lot of time at work because I am required to get paid. But when I look back on life, will I be glad I spent all this time at a desk? And I really like my job. But when I'm dead, will that be what people remember about me? Probably not.

Then reality sets in and I realize most people on the planet spend much of the time doing what they have to do and too little time doing what they want to do. So, is the key to life, finding what is important and urgent then getting a balance? I'd like to know.