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You Only Have 5 Hours To Live!!!
Despite the ominous title of this post, this is not a terrorist threat against your life. If you don’t take this post seriously however, it may result in the loss of life one hour at a time, so maybe I should’ve written it using block letters cut out of a magazine.
We’ve often heard the old adage “Time is money.” The adage should be rewritten to read “Time costs money.” Time is either making you money or costing you money, so if time is our most valued asset (and it is), how do you spend your time daily?
On average, we only have about five hours a day to live our lives outside of work to sleep and do few menial tasks. If you have children, are a workaholic, or commute more than 2 hours a day, congrats, you have even less time to live. And if you’re living for the weekend, it may be the equivalent of starving yourself all week then trying to catch up by binge eating on Sat & Sun. Doesn’t sound prudent now does it? If you aren’t part of the lucky few who enjoy your job, that means you will need an activity that injects eight hours of positive energy just to achieve any sort of emotional balance. So if you’re wondering why you may be unhappy and unbalanced at times, it may literally translate to the amount of physical time spent injecting happiness back into your life.
Most of us believe that all we need to even the playing field would be the winning Powerball ticket and we would be able to level-set our time deficiency. Let’s put that to the test. To quickly assess your potential asset management skills, just use the one simple asset everyone already has equal amounts of; TIME.
Is the time spent watching Scandal every Thursday night cost effective? Is it earning you revenue? Does it really make you happy or are you simply killing time and, by virtue of extension, killing yourself? If you’re Kerri Washington, then Scandal is truly enriching your existence. If not, then most likely not.
Does the redemptive value of suspense-laden entertainment trump that potential research and development time for your dream start-up? It truly depends on what standards you’ve set for your desired quality of life. There is absolutely nothing wrong with television indulgences or whatever else you chose to spend your time doing. There is something wrong with doing so while complaining about not having enough time to accomplish your goals. It’s called misappropriation of assets and like most businesses who engage is that practice, you will may soon be left bankrupt or barely afloat.
Time is money and opportunity cost, so maybe you just haven’t invested enough time in yourself yet. Change your standard and you may eventually have the benefit of changing your standards.
Almost every year for the past 6 years and on the same day, I’ve posted the same pic of me in the hospital during my temporary and untimely demise in 2015. A few weeks after I was back to “normal”, I asked Eric “Why’d you take the pics?” And he said, “I knew you would want to write about it if you lived.” Eric was right. Eric was often right and Eric always had my best interest at heart. I am going to miss my friend.
You ever meet someone and become friends immediately?! Well this was not the case with Eric. Before he was my manager at Morgan Stanley, I would often see this 6’4″, giant white guy walk up to the only black woman at work, say something then walk away without any hint of human emotion. Naturally I thought he was a jerk until I asked her “Yo, is that dude bothering you?” She laughed and proceeded to tell me he was a great person, which I ultimately got to experience first hand. Little did I know this Italian from Staten Island was more Brooklyn than most Brooklynites.
Eric was not with the shits!! If there were ever someone who lived their life in direct, honest and no uncertain terms, that would be Eric. He would ask me questions at work like “Why are the other consultants making more money than you?” I knew the answer to that question and so did he. Eric then proceeded to increase my salary by 15K. After arguing with all our managers that “You need to hire Alfred!”, they eventually did 1 year prior to the 2015 incident. In the hospital, one of my friends asked me, “What if you didn’t have health insurance when this happened?” I would be in debt for the rest of my life is the obvious answer. I still am in debt for the rest of my life but at least, it is to those who made sure I had a more enjoyable life and for that, I will gladly repay.
My mom loved to tell me the story of how she met Eric. After they told her I was going to be in the ICU for some time, she told the doctor “Well I’m not going anywhere.” She then hears a voice from that back of the room that says “Well I’m not going anywhere either!” That was Eric and in true form, he was at that hospital every single day until I was discharged.
Eric passed away in December 2021 of stage 4 cancer. After feeling faint on his way to my bbq, he went to get checked out and was diagnosed. During the past 5 years, Eric lost his mom, twin brother and dad. I can’t even begin to imagine what that must have felt like but I’m glad that pain he was feeling is no more.
From being my manager to my business partner, writer, book editor, artistic director, and most importantly, my friend, I am going to miss you MC Krispy E a.k.a “Enrique Pollazo!” And although you told me Enrique means Henry in Spanish and not Eric, it was too late!
Sidebar. The day I was discharged, while everyone was deciding what was best for me, no one had remembered that I would need clothes in order to leave the hospital. Eric shows up (unasked) with all the clothes I had on the day I coded, laundered and ready to go. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve friends like this but i need to keep doing it! Sidebar complete.
Rest in Peace Eric. “Be Good.”
I had the distinct pleasure of participating in a panel discussion on writing your first book, presented by the Harlem chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. Alongside Jim St. Germain, Author – A Stone of Hope: A Memoir and Dr. Keneshia Nicole Grant, Author – The Great Migration and the Democratic Party: Black Voters and the Realignment of American Politics in the 20th Century. We opined on pain points, benefits and strategies regarding our inaugural voyages into authorship. Feel free to watch for your self and I hope this provides some insight to all those looking to make the same voyage. Enjoy!
