I also watched a lot of football and sports. I haven't had much

Hear the words of Casper Van Dien, who once reflected: “I also watched a lot of football and sports. I haven’t had much time to watch too much TV lately.” At first, these words appear ordinary, a simple recollection of what was once done and what now is neglected. Yet hidden within them lies the eternal lesson of time, choice, and devotion. For in speaking of sports once loved, but time now consumed by labor and duty, he reveals the truth that life is not infinite, and every hour spent is a stone laid in the temple of our destiny.

The meaning of this saying lies in contrast. To watch football and sports is to partake in joy, in relaxation, in the thrill of watching others strive. It is the leisure of youth, the comfort of unburdened days. But as Van Dien admits, the demands of life often strip us of such hours. The stage, the craft, the work, the responsibilities of adulthood call us away from the glowing screen. What once was abundant becomes rare, and the heart learns to accept that to build a future, one must surrender much of the ease of the present.

The origin of this truth is ancient, for all who have risen to greatness have known this trade. The warrior who once played as a child, chasing games in the dust, later traded play for training, feasts for discipline, idleness for preparation. The scholar, once free to wander in thought, later sacrificed leisure to pour over books deep into the night. Leisure is sweet, but destiny demands sacrifice. Van Dien’s words echo this eternal balance—the longing for pastime, tempered by the reality of toil.

Consider the story of Alexander Hamilton, who in his youth longed for books and debate, but in the fire of revolution abandoned leisure for the endless grind of letters, battles, and councils. In his later years, he confessed regret at having so little time for the simple joys of reading for pleasure. Yet through sacrifice, he helped build a nation. His life, like Van Dien’s words, reminds us that the sweetness of pastimes may fade, but what endures is what we create with the hours we devote to purpose.

The lesson is clear: we are each called to decide how we will use the limited currency of our time. There is no shame in loving games, in delighting in stories, in being a spectator of others’ greatness. But there comes a season when the weight of our own tasks demands we lay aside much of that leisure, and turn instead to building, striving, and creating. To cling only to ease is to remain a child; to embrace sacrifice is to step into the mantle of maturity.

Practical actions must follow. Examine your days. Ask yourself: what are the sports or entertainments that feed my spirit, and what are the labors that build my future? Give space for both, but let not leisure consume the hours meant for creation. If your dreams are heavy upon you, rise earlier, cut distractions, and devote yourself as Van Dien did to the work at hand. Leisure may be fewer, but your life will be richer in meaning, and your sacrifices will be crowned with fruit.

And so, child of tomorrow, hear the wisdom hidden in these simple words. Time is fleeting, and choices shape destiny. Delight in the games and the stories when you can, but do not mourn their absence when greater callings take their place. For there is a nobility in sacrifice, a heroism in trading ease for purpose. And in the end, it is not the hours of television that define a life, but the deeds that echo long after the screens have gone dark.