The quote by Anna Nalick, “Life’s like an hourglass glued to the table” almost sums up the essence of the book ‘It’s about time’ by Ray Frigault. The time that we have is moving and we have our life, no matter if we want to enjoy it in a particular way or let it speed away. The author takes a simple lesson that life isn’t over before it is literally over. When you become aware of this gift, it is important to use it to its fullest and for that Ray Frigault provides a series of gripping yet comfortable ways of making your mindset your biggest ally.
The unconventional journey begins with the realization when the writer notices an 80-year-old granny trying to live her life on her own terms. He may call it a vision, but it was an idea, a motivation that helped him improve the quality of his life for the next 40 years and inspire others to not stop living. Ray teaches the readers an important section of life, that we need to make the days we live count. He has tried answering midlife crises questions and as he references in his book, “Book is dedicated to middle aged people.” He urges his readers to have the attitude of not fearing to start over and letting go of things that they believe keep them from growing.
The author is keen on ‘moving forward’ in his life. His whole aim throughout the book revolves around not beating yourself up for trying new things even if they might come with slight stagnation. His motivation for his audience lies in the view that restricting your thinking means restricting your goals. Here, he quotes an example of ‘a fat little bee’ who from a simple human outlook should not have been able to fly, but does the human mind’s understanding of it stop the bee from flying? No.
Now and then we are made familiar with the phrases like ‘giving/sharing is important’, ‘gratitude is a powerful catalyst’ and ‘nothing remains forever’. It is because there is practical evidence behind these words of wisdom and that is what drives Ray to mention them in his book. They have proved to be helpful in his real life and he shares those advices with us. He takes a stand on how giving implies growth. When we find ourselves lacking any development, we must start contributing through knowledge, wealth, or physical help. Similarly, being thankful can lead to miracles, counting the blessings and things we are grateful for proves to be one of the stimuli for positive mental health growth. When author encounters the death of father at a young age, the quote ‘this too shall pass’ remains with him forever, even as a 42- year-old man. This outlook towards the things happening around us helps us maintain a balance, we can greet happiness completely and embrace the downfalls properly and that is what Ray Frigault is aiming to communicate through the first few lessons.
The author with subtle humor mentions topics that are a hard pill to swallow for everyone. An example of this can be found in how he recommends ‘prioritizing’ matters. He believes that the best way of doing so is by maximizing time by visiting a sick friend or putting your family ahead of anything else and making sure they know that. He mentions trying to quit smoking just so he could see his grandson, Cole, growing up. Here he very tactfully focuses on how humans depend on relationships and hence rebuilding the same is like food to their soul.
The following chapters reflect how the author had severe addiction to alcohol, smoking cigarettes and weed and spends a large chunk of his money on the same. He gives advice to the audience here by pointing out how they can give up on these life-threatening habits by making their whole lifestyle better. He wants his readers to keep their hopes of a good life alive by adapting to positive changes and keeping a check on where they invest their time.
The entirety of the book advocates positive mindset and outlook, however this approach is accompanied with its fair share of challenges. When the main character fails to achieve his dream of establishing a business or is diagnosed with cancer, he doesn’t deter himself from this journey he has started. Rather these circumstances, even though start to spark doubts in his mind, he encourages himself to hold on to the principles like serenity prayer. Only after we accept our situation, can we have the courage to change it.
One must critically look at the content of this memoir as well, the passages have a good amount of life experiences to impart but like the author mentions the solutions are different for everyone just like their problems. We have a lot to learn about ourselves, maybe this book can be a starting place for the same. Afterall, you need not to apply everything you learn but stopping altogether and giving up is never an option and that is a critical moral teaching of this book. Time is scary but it is like any weapon, you must determine its application.
After reading the title or the summary of the story, one must think that the writer is trying to challenge time by trying to combat age but that is not the case. He is pushing himself to embrace time and value it, rather than just letting it go. He is trying to pull the audience towards the goal of investing in oneself and not giving up on the dreams especially when time feels to be the opponent. Thus, as Ray Frigault says that it is never too late to do what you love and to achieve your greatness.
Also Read: An Inspiring Interview with Ray Frigault, Author of ‘It’s About TIME’
