Eight Forty-Six

Time.  Something we all use.  Something we all need.  Something we can’t control---we can’t stop it, we can’t pause it, we can’t speed it up and we can’t slow it down. It’s inevitable. Actually, we all take advantage of it, in some way or another.  Now, that I think about it, time is one of those things that has no language barrier or prejudice. We’re ALL affected by it. 

ALL. OF. US.

It’s so powerful, that if you use it wisely, it can change your life for the better.  But if you waste it, it causes regret.  Amazingly, although there are opportunities that may come around more than once, there are specific seconds on specific days/dates, that you can NEVER get back.  Sunday through Saturday comes every week, but each day in that week is different from the one before.

Isn’t that something?

Time does exactly what it wants, and WE can’t tell it otherwise.  Even if we were to change the clocks, the Sun would still rise and set when it got ready…all because we have no say so, when it comes to time.  Time changes to accommodate how long the Sun is out, but again, no one can tell the Sun…what to do.  When seasons last longer than usual? It’s because time is running the show. 

You get what I’m saying.

I just read an article about things you can do in less than nine minutes.  Some of them were:

Meditate.

Read an article.

Sort laundry.

Make your bed.

Take out the trash.

Write a blog.

Sounds simple, right? That’s what most Americans can do except for a certain group of people, like…Black people. 

Like…George Floyd.

Instead of the named things above that you can do in less than nine minutes, he spent his not being able to…breathe.  The LAST eight minutes and forty-six seconds of his life were spent…suffocating.  Why couldn’t he have done some of those other things? Maybe if he were White, he would have been at least allowed to…BREATHE.

George Floyd created a new list of what can be done in less than nine minutes.

In the last eight minutes and forty-six seconds of his life, this is what happened:

Children lost their father.

Parents lost their son.

Siblings lost their brother.

Humanity became inhumane.

Evil was cheered on.

Hatred became a spokesman.

Racism had a welcome committee.

That cop used more knee pressure to kill than he ever had, to pray.

Hearts were broken.

People’s spirits’ needed CPR.

Wrong was given a first-class seat.

LIFE…left…his…body…

In the same regard, let me tell you what else happened:

The light came on.

People who have been blinded began to see.

The lens of racism was dusted off and made crisp.

America’s regularly scheduled evil gained a worldwide audience.

Some white parents thought long and hard about what they’d taught their children.

The inequality of Black people gained a new voice in other countries.

People all over the world cheered for our legalization as a race.

Anger gave a groundbreaking performance.

Tolerance spilled over the brim of Black people’s cups.

The world SHIFTED.

All of that happened in less than nine…minutes. Eight minutes and forty-six seconds to be exact.

The article I mentioned earlier, most certainly didn't list ANY of these things.  You know why? Death is not something that you EVER put on your "to-do-list".

I’m pretty sure George Floyd didn’t.

In what would seem like an abbreviated time, in losing his life, George Floyd changed the language of the WORLD to three words:

BLACK. LIVES. MATTER.

Black people? Are AMAZING. We’re the only people who can lose and WIN at the same TIME.

It took his last eight minutes and forty-six seconds to recruit MILLIONS of advocates.

Time…is…LIFE changing.  In this case, WORLD changing. I will never look at time the same.  EVER.

I’m going to now steward my time better and with intention for the better, so no one else can determine what I do with it. I won’t allow someone else to make my time negative, when it can be positive. Watching what one man did to another in such a fleeting time, has strengthened my vision.

Is it possible that I can encourage someone in that length of time?

Is it possible that I could help someone in that length of time?

Is it possible that I could change someone’s life in that length of time?

Is it possible that that I could change MY life in that length of time?

Yes…yes…yes…and YES!!!!

No one could have ever told me, that it only took, eight…forty-six.

I’m going to get creative and see all of the good that I can do in this timeframe. I’ll find a way…I owe it to George Floyd, his family, my community, and myself.

Allow the loss of his life, to help you find yours.

What can you do in eight minutes and forty-six seconds? Make it count.