"Whoa, I made it to the top in recordtime!" I breathed raggedly. I surveyed the mountain's rocky summit andjagged boulders. "This is it?" I questioned. "Where's the lushHawaiian rainforest, the spectacular view, the experience of alifetime?"

On the road of life there is not enough time to geteverything done. When you finish one task, or climb one mountain, there is alwaysanother looming in the distance. Why should you be the hiker who runs up themountain as fast as possible? Why not be the hiker who takes time to savor thesurroundings, because "You can't save time. You can only spend it"(Hoff).

I was dismayed. I had taken an entire afternoon from my busyvacation to do something memorable, and I was standing in the middle of a pile ofrocks. I had nothing to show for my hike, no memories, noexperiences.

Then the rest of the group appeared through the trees. Theywere clearly enjoying themselves. "Allie," my mom said, "whydidn't you walk up with us? You missed the rainforest."

I missed therainforest! Those words took my breath away. That was what I had come to see. Ihad been so obsessed with saving time that I didn't even realize I was spendingit worrying about how to save time. I missed what I had wanted to take the timeto see. I missed lush green foliage, the bamboo forest, the flowers, the sounds,the wildlife.

In that moment I knew I needed to learn to let go, and notconsume myself with how much time I can save when doing something. In essence, Iwould not be saving time, I'd be spending it doing something else. Now, when Ihike down the road of life, I try not to think about how I can save time, butrather how I am spending it.