“Time is gold!” “time is the most precious gift one can give,” “time waits for no one,” “time flies,” and “you only live once”—these are but some of the overused, shorthand, easy-peasy expressions you draw from long-term memory in pointing out the immense value of time. We evince a hang on the importance of time as we juggle our multiple obligations, and live life responsibly and joyfully the best way we can. We make sure that within a certain duration, say sixteen hours, every item in our to-do list, especially the pressing ones, are executed before we are entitled to call it a day. We all accept our relationship with time like we do with food and air. Clearly understood. And practical. There is, however, a single, plain question I wish to poke out to you: Is this knowledge enough? I mean, will this entire awareness suffice to constitute the spirit of comprehending the immeasurable vitality of time to human existence? Alas, not really. Let me tell you how.
Before we dive into the uncelebrated pieces of the puzzle that partially makes up the conundrum of time, let’s be clear what do we mean by time. Time is an element of life, where everything operates for a duration. By this, we mean that a person’s life treads down a certain chunk of time. Every act we do is subject to, and operates within, the constant, inevitable law of time. Time even operates even beyond anyone’s lifetime.
To start off, time is a vicious nemesis. True, the luxury of time gives a person the opportunity to see the entire forest compared to seeing only the trees against his nose. Ample time enables one to get his guns and ammunitions ready prior to the high-stakes battle; he can even test them towards familiarity. Enough time likewise allows him to attain the mastery of the needed skills in making the bullseye, as well as the cognizance with the befuddling terrain. A witty student or personnel member knows this very well: digging into the task way before the deadline is the wisest decision for him to eliminate any chance of stepping on the deadline. Exploiting the sufficient time at his disposal confers a comfortable, bright road to brilliant ideas, even novelty to rote, dull undertakings. Enough time, however, does not promise you the triumph for which you work, but time is, generally, a ticket to quality. Daedal products must be, at the minimum, a product of deliberate working thanks to the gift of time. Upon the absence of time shattered are these favors: a man working while approaching the brink of submission trudges towards failure if not the production of a pitiful, contrite output. The abovementioned benefits may succumb to a wasteful effort. This juncture is when prompt actions are embraced, ranging from hasty resolutions down to visceral steps. Consequently, gambling and taking the shortcut come into play.
Time is also a formidable adversary whenever waiting game is on. Prisoners may know this well. As they serve their sentences, they have all the zeal to fast track the duration of their jail stint. Alas, time is completely untouchable—none can impede nor hasten its forward-only motion. Highly likely, imprisonment as punishment connotes not only physical confinement, but also the misery of having limited discretion on how to enjoy one’s time.
Second, time is an incorporeal, consumable property endowed to everyone. Man has the gift of a certain amount of time, called lifespan, to work out anything he wishes and to enjoy life. Like death, time is ever present and irresistible in life. We consume it continuously because it expires bit by bit without respite. We have all the liberty to choose what things will occupy the period granted to us. We may not be aware of this, but we actually utilize time this way.
The inevitable consumption of time often pushes us morally to throw our time and effort to things of great impact. We are impelled to set some path on which our lives traverse. We cannot tamper the work of time, true; however, we have all the discretion to mold our legacies, motivated by the inevitability of time. As aged peers say, you must make your white hair worthwhile. Time isn’t different from the internet—we can use it or ignore it. If we use the internet, it can be for the good or evil, just like the options in utilizing time. Taking advantage of the internet towards morality can facilitate a tremendous number of upright engagements. If we elect otherwise, we can likewise satisfy a huge number of objectives, though worldly, destructive, futile this way. If we shrug it off, we shall miss out the highly accessible information at our disposal. In every moment we have, a bit of our time, symbolized by a second, expires constantly and inevitably.
Third, time is the cheapest, yet most precious asset of ours. On the one hand, time is quite a cheap possession because it’s the most accessible, handy asset of man. It can easily be spent in whatever undertaking we wish to be engaged. It’s the human resource that’s most susceptible to discretionary use. In analogy, it resembles solar power—the cheapest form of energy—which is present to everybody. On the other hand, time is the most precious thing among all possessions of ours. Not a person can regain the time that passes. Tokens and appearance fees can elucidate this. Let’s think of a talk show, where a physician is invited to inform on a certain disease. Though the doctor would be glad to help out via sharing his knowledge of the topic gratuitously, the program producers cannot help but recompense the guest in a form of a token or appearance fee. This remuneration represents, among others, the compensation for the lost time of the person that can be used elsewhere had he not gone to the show. Briefly, everyone must spend time prudently.
Fourth, have you ever thought that time raises the importance of your earnings? Yes, time endears our salary in the same way that the sleepless, working nights of a writer make the celebration of his successful publication sweeter. As we dive into the mud to execute the details and challenges of our work, whether in employment or business, we give up an irrecoverable chunk of our lifespan to earn the money resulting from that work. Said money is what you get from a portion of your lifespan. This makes your compensation more precious, thereby motivates you to keep a firm grip of it and spend it wisely. It costs some of your lifetime.
That trade-off said, time can now be realized as a convertible resource. We can exist for a few days in the pleasure of our chosen activity (even idleness), but we cannot last long without the essentials of human life. Food, shelter, clothes—these are but few of the necessities we require vitally for ourselves. Consequently, we get in our feet, break a leg, even risk our lives, and, willy-nilly, trade our dearest time in livelihood undertakings. Evidently, among other assets intrinsic to us such as talents, time is what we utilize to fulfill our fundamental requirements.
Relatively, every person has dispensable desires. These are individual wants connoting the need to invest additional time towards acquisition of these. Are you craving for a cutting-edge sports car, high-end laptop, or just an elegant coat? How about the top spot of your class list, the presidency of a prominent firm, or just a simple recognition in your organization? Well, you need to give up something to earn something. Time, among others, definitely. In nearly all cases, time is what we render to acquire our desires. In a nutshell, every person ought to offer some of his time to fulfill his wishes, even at best.
Sixth, every person is equal to one another in the name of time. Rich or poor; famous or nobody; gregarious or loner; multitalented or monotalented; offspring of a state leader, high-earning celebrity, wealthy tycoon, religious leader, or peasant. Everyone is gifted with time. We are endowed with a period to live and execute multifarious, sky-is-the-limit desires before time expires in the form of death. Besides, everybody is enslaved by the constraint of time. As mentioned, everything we do is subject to the law of time. Certainly, time is a lens through which every individual is viewed equally.
The most important feature of time is its unwavering professionalism. Yes, it is! Do you know that time is the most dedicated worker on the planet? It does its lone job unceasingly and sturdily—to run. It cannot be disturbed nor delayed. We don’t see it, but we can absolutely feel it. Your clock—the primordial device that makes you visibly and accurately aware of time—ticks whatever you do, how vital it is for the world, even how useless it is. Rivers may run out of water. So do waterfalls. You may even defy gravity. Time, conversely, pushes through inevitably and is designed to be beyond human will to be influenced. It reigns even over the will of man.
Interesting is the question “how come time runs when it only proceeds bit by bit, manifested by the ticks of the clock?” This sarcastic query, indeed, is an effective take-off point in highlighting the great importance of time. Time does run! Even if it just proceeds in snail-paced motion, time ticks down continuously towards the end of your life! That’s why your time is running. Because you do not live forever. Every bit of time is as precious as the most important treasure you can imagine. Even more important, probably. Every second is a frog leap towards death. Time shall not be wasted. It consistently nibbles your limited existence.
Successful athletes can attest to the inevitability of time to which man is subjected. They faithfully uphold three ever-binding principles in their profession. The first one is “while you’re sleeping, somebody is improving.” This maxim does not renounce the need for rest; this just adheres to the primordial norm of any fiercely competitive world—the thirst for self-improvement. The second principle is to hit the iron while it’s hot. They know that youth is not on their side forever, and it expires faster than time. Transient in humans are agility and mental sharpness. More so are the here-today-gone-tomorrow opportunities around them. The last proverb by which they live is the abandonment of blubbering. Athletes are resilient and convalescent from their defeats and illnesses, always eager to get back to the roster of future champions.
In light of the precious, inescapable continuity of time, pastimes shall not be a mere burning of daylight. Wasteful, literal pastimes jar terribly from the nature and established value of time. Once time lapses, it’s done. If you don’t exploit it to yield anything beneficial for you, that certain time slips through your hands. That could be a great deal regretful. Why not engage in physical regeneration, intellectual investment, planning, and relationship building? Instead of letting time to expire idly, vacant moments must be used as springboard towards goals and aspirations.
Time, like death, is an inevitable element that we must go along as we breathe, touching every corner of our lives. It reigns even after death, anyhow. It unceasingly marches and rams forward willy-nilly, blind to man’s will and circumstances, and is beyond human ability to disturb. It devours mercilessly the mightiest, yet intellectually weak, man. Beyond what you know about time, it’s an assent of yours—a primordial, potent tool in life—and you trade it in combination with other faculties towards any desired outcome. Foregone time cannot be recovered, making time a great deal precious. Time puts every person coming in all walks of life in equal footing. To some people, no-brainer is the inherent value of time; however, with these unsung characteristics of time, which may sound Greek so much, you may take a view of time from a different window that offers a quite deep thought of time. This may come emotionally.
