Column: Do you have time to spare for a child?

Each of our lives is run by a clock. Our days are governed by time.

Most of us never seem to have enough of it in a day to do with what we want, much more everything we need done, either.

Time is our tally man, a master to whom we are enslaved. Worse still, it's also a drug to which we are addicted. Seemingly every decision we make depends on time.

Time is the great excuse of our age and era, too. We don't act on what we could do, or even what we say we are going to do, because of time.

We run out of it. We waste it.

Time is a precious commodity to children in crisis. Either it slips away too quickly from them, or moves painfully slow in resolving trauma.

The difference between adults and children, though, is that the former has more control over their time than the latter does.

We can choose to spend a few hours per week less on social media, saving it instead to make a positive difference in the life of a child, whose welfare hangs in the balance of time.

We can elect to make family dinners in advance or let them simmer all day in a slow cooker, so that we have an hour here or there to spend with a child in crisis.

We can forego the gym and play a game of pick-up basketball with a child who needs us.

We can plan our lives better, so that we don't have to be a slave to time. Instead we can make time work for us and those to whom we are giving our time.

I have both physical and mental handicaps. There are days when I feel like I am unable to do anything more than what I must. I work like most everyone else, and I support others. Soon I may be going back to school, too.

I am also a Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) here in Carson City. That means I volunteer my time, energy and resources to help a child in crisis.

I was a licensed foster parent for four years here in Carson City. But a life-altering diagnosis affected my ability to continue providing in-home care to children in crisis.

I sought instead to become a volunteer CASA, or guardian ad litem in the juvenile justice and family court systems, because I still wanted to be part of the solution in my community, despite a disabling condition.

I wanted to be someone a child in crisis could rely on, because I know how important that is to a kid.

I was lucky to have parents on whom I could rely when I was a child suffering through personal problems. Not every child can say the same, but every child deserves to have someone in their life they can count on.

Serving as a guardian ad litem has given me that opportunity. And while I may not be as active as other advocates, my zeal to help remains high. I am honored to continue my association with CASA of Carson City.

CASA volunteers are special, because they are on a child's side. They are in a child's corner, advocating for their best interests.

CASAs speak for children who have no voice in court, serving without compensation and giving what little extra time they may have to be that steady, reliable presence in a child's life.

I don't do this for praise, to feel good, or any other reason for myself. I volunteer to serve because it's the right thing to do, and there is a need for someone to do it.

Many people talk a lot about doing the right thing. That's never been good enough for me, and that is why I volunteer as a CASA.

I refuse to let time be my enemy; a master, drug or excuse. I prefer to use it as an ally to help others.

That's really the decision we are faced with each and every new day ahead: What will we do with the time that we have, the time that is ours to spend or waste as we choose?

Will you hoard it like a miser, thinking you can store it away on your smart phone, the same one you spend hours on every day? Or will you decide to give away some of the extra time that you can make for yourself?

Do not let time continue being an antagonist in your life. Take control of the time you have and give something extra away to someone who could really use it.

Avoid investing in the contraction "can't." No other word or group of words in the English language is as crippling to the human spirit as "cannot."

Most of all, stop making excuses like, "I don't have the time."

You may not now, because of the choices you are making today. But perhaps you could if you made difference choices tomorrow.

There are children in need right here in Carson City who could benefit from our choices to let time work for us rather than against us.

CASA isn't right for everyone. But everyone can do something for someone else.

For more information about CASA, becoming a volunteer or getting involved in some other way, call 775-882-6776 or visit the office located next to the First Judicial Juvenile District Court at 1539 East Fifth Street in Carson City.

CASA of Carson City can also be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CASAofCC/ or check out the national CASA web site at http://www.casaforchildren.org.