Reflections on Time

Time is a most interesting thing: it has the ability to fly and to crawl. Find something that you enjoy, and two or three hours will go by like a minute; but try doing something you detest, and five minutes will drag on forever.

Time is tricky in this way. Remember in high school, it seemed like high school was never going to end? And look at yourself now, all grown-up, married, raising your family... Where did the last 10 years go? And how come this baby you just had is already preparing for school?

There was a science fiction story about a guy who would approach people and offer to buy their time when they thought they had too much of it, waiting for something they really wanted to happen. People would foolishly agree, and the time would magically skip forward to the event they so wished to happen sooner. All the waiting was gone, plus they had gotten some cash for it!.. Of course, those people would eventually realize that they were selling their very life, but the time-buyer had no money-back policy.

The 2006 movie Click explores a similar theme: the main character gets a remote control which he uses to fast-forward all parts of his life that he considers annoying or dull. Zoom - and the boring family lunch is over. Zoom - and he's got his promotion. He enjoys it at first, but then his life is over before he knows it. While it is not a particularly good movie, Click has a very good point. Time is one of the most valuable things we have.

Our life can zoom past us without the help of an evil time-buyer or a magical remote. We can do a good job wasting and killing time ourselves. When we plop in front of the TV just to watch something - isn't that a perfect example? Especially if we do so on a regular basis. Instead of carefully choosing good programs and films, we just sit there flipping through channels, hoping to find something that will catch our attention - something we probably will not remember a day later. We need to relax and unwind after a hard day, we say. As if watching a good movie with substance instead of fluff cannot be relaxing.

I guess using time wisely comes with maturity, as well as fully appreciating all the good moments we have in life. The more we have to look back at, the more we understand what really matters.