Time well spent?

I've been thinking a lot recently about my time and my priorities. As I'm coming towards the end of Uni I'm in the wonderful (yet incredibly frustrating) position of being able to really think about what direction my life is heading in when it comes to my work. I'm so aware of the fact that I don't want work to become my priority.

This entry in my Bible notes 2 weeks ago really got me thinking about what's important...

"He logged twelve-hour days, and sometimes weekends. Even when he wasn't working , he was thinking about work. His wife tried to slow him down. He knew they weren't as close as they once had been. He hadn't intended to drift away, it's just that she always seemed to want time and that's the one thing he didn't want to give. He was vaguely aware that his kids were growing up and he was missing it. They complained about books he wasn't reading to them, games he wasn't playing with them and trips he wasn't taking with them. After a while they stopped complaining or expecting their lives might ever be different. 'I'll be more available when things settle down', he thought. When he felt guilty he told himself, 'I'm doing it for them.' His wife asked him about going to church but he said, 'There'll be plenty of time for that sort of thing when things settle down.' His doctor told him he had elevated blood pressure and high cholesterol - but he told himself there'd be plenty of time for that when things settle down. Quietly, efficiently, irresistibly, his body was preparing to do him in. One morning his wife woke at 3am and he was not beside her. She weren't downstairs to drag him to bed and saw him sitting still in front of the computer, his head hanging low. She touched him but he didn't respond. When the paramedics got there they told her he had suffered a massive heart attack. Things had finally settled down."

Our time is so important and the truth is that we really don't know how much we have. We can't guarantee that "there'll be plenty of time". We just don't know. So, how do we decide on what our time is best spent on? If I use my social work qualification and work long, stressful hours as a social worker, is that time well spent? Or, if I work part-time and spend lots of time with church or friends, is that time well spent?

Ultimately, I know that if we spend our time on loving God and loving people I know we can't really go far wrong. Our time is so precious and I really don't want to waste a minute of mine.