That’s the central theme of a hit song released seven years ago, and one of my personal favorites. Although the call to save the world is quite urgent – we need to act now, more than ever – it also encourages us to make the most out of the time and have a good one. Written with the environment in mind (Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth was still fairly recent at the time), and inspiring a documentary she later made, here it is: Madonna’s “4 Minutes”, featuring Justin Timberlake and Timbaland.

As I mentioned before, each of us has our own advocacies, our own things to stand up for. We wouldn’t know what these are unless we ourselves experience the feeling of wanting, needing, to strive for that thing. And in line with those things are our own personalities – our own strengths, our desires, our dreams.

It follows that the things we are good at or love are also those that tend to make us happier and better. For some, it may be their calling. For others, it’s their “craft” or unique talent. Yet others see it as their chance to happiness. And so on and so forth. But all have one commonality – we feel compelled, by some unknown (or higher, even) reason, to do it. And we love it.

Thus, it’s logical that in doing your part to make an impact, you have fun doing it. Indeed, time is limited, as the song’s chorus and title (it’s also as long as its title states) mentions – “We’ve only got 4 minutes to save the world”. We are invited, therefore, to Make The Most out of this precious time – and I believe this is twofold. First, seize every opportunity to live out what you stand for, to live out living a life of service, of responsibility, of governance, of consciousness. You might end up either regretting it in the end, or, worse, suffering the unwanted consequences.

Second, we are also reminded to Make The Most out of life itself and enjoy. We were put on earth for a purpose, and one of those purposes is to enjoy creation – so not enjoying the things around us is actually a sin. And after all, who would want to live out their social missions in an overly serious or monotonous way? We should have fun and remember the goodness life has to offer us.

“4 Minutes” was written by Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Timbaland, and Danja; and released in March 2008 ahead of its parent album, Madonna’s Hard Candy (April 2008). The Featured Photo depicts the single artwork.