Actor Marlon Brando once said, “We only have so many hours in a day, so why waste them on something that doesn’t matter?”

He went on to explain: “Each day gives us 24 hours, but when broken down into the demands of daily life, the amount of time left for meaningful pursuits is shockingly small. Understanding this reality is essential to making better decisions about how to spend those hours.”

Consider the structure of an average day. Eight hours are often spent sleeping, leaving 16 waking hours. For many, another eight to 10 hours are consumed by work, commuting or managing essential responsibilities. This leaves six to eight hours, but even those are chipped away by necessary tasks like eating, cooking, cleaning and other routines. After factoring in distractions like social media, mindless entertainment, or procrastination, the truly available time for personal growth, relationships or creative pursuits might be as little as three or four hours.

The truth is, time slips away quickly, often unnoticed. Each hour spent on activities that don’t align with personal goals or values is an hour lost forever.

Spending time wisely doesn’t mean filling every moment completing tasks. It means doing things that bring joy, meaning and purpose. Nurture a healthy relationship. Pursue a passion. Plan long-term goals.

It’s not about doing more. It’s about doing what matters. How often do we tackle obligations that drain our energy and offer us little value? Count the hours we spend doing mindless habits. Instead, we could be enriching our lives with loved ones. We could be learning something new. We might be enjoying a few moments of solitude.

Every hour matters. Mariangela Melato said: “Time is free, but it is priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t save it, but you can spend it. Once you have lost it, you can’t ever get it back.”

I have come to a harsh realization. As I age, time seems to move much faster than when I was younger. Even the seasons pass by more quickly. What were once long summer school breaks now seem to fly by after a few burgers on the grill. As a child, waiting for Christmas seemed like the months and weeks took forever to pass. Now, I just put away the lawn mower and the leaf blower. Snow falls. Thanksgiving is gone and after a slice of apple pie, it’s time to decorate the tree.

Dr. Seuss said, “How did it get so late so soon?”

Think of the hours we waste being angry, feeling anxiety, holding grudges, having regrets when we could be spending that time doing what makes us happy. We lose many more hours in heavy sadness that road blocks us from moving forward with our lives. Loved ones die and we naturally grieve, but unnaturally we carry heavy hearts for way too long. Would those we have lost want us to be this sad for that long?

We waste time trying to do the same things over and over again, hoping that if we try just one more time, failure will become success. Coco Chanel said, “Don’t spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.”

Henry David Thoreau wrote, “Our life is frittered away by detail.” We focus on the tedious. The spoons in the silverware drawer should always be pointing wide end down and not up. Focusing on the minutia removes minutes from our clocks each and every day, and in exchange we become blind to the big picture that would add significant meaning to our very brief human existence.

Count the hours we watch TV each day and how we absorb ourselves into other people’s lives that flash before our eyes. Cellphones and social media remove us from person-to-person contact. Upon our deathbeds, will we say, “I wish I had time left to watch another TV series,” or how about, “I should have spent more time texting.” Would the last words that come from our mouths be, “I never got to say goodbye to my Facebook friends?”

As I age farther into my twilight years, I think how much my yesterdays have increased and how few tomorrows I have left. This thought does not depress me. It challenges me to live in the present, to embrace the moments I spend with family and friends. Each day a decision I must make: Jump on that runaway train that’s headed for an unknown destination, or let it pass me by? I can stand still in the very moment that’s been given to me as a precious gift to my life, a gift that too many beautiful people I have known that are no longer alive can enjoy here on earth.

George Harrison of The Beatles had said: “It’s being here now that’s important. There’s no past and there’s no future. Time is a very misleading thing. All there is ever, is the now. We can gain experience from the past, but we can’t relive it and we can hope for the future, but we don’t know if there is one.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Too late comes too quickly.” We are not promised the next 24 hours or even the next 60 minutes. If this be my last day of life, I must be certain that my family and my friends have experienced the love I have given to them. I must hold no grudges against anyone. I shall spend each minute being kind to the world outside my doors. I will breathe the air as if it’s my last. Look with awe at nature. Taste good food throughout the last bite. Be grateful that I was given this life to live.

So, what will you to in the next 24 hours? The next hour? The next minute after you have read this column?

Email Rich Strack at richiesadie11@gmail.com