Relevance of time in life...

Days are moving faster than ever, say my friends. There is so much to do and so little time, is yet another comment we hear often.

In the holy month of Ramadhan, the pace of the day slows down compared to other months, but the days seem to be running at a faster rate this year.

They say do not live in the past or the future; live today. But one factor that is relevant in these three aspects is time. When we take medication, time is of great importance, and so is when you have an appointment or, for that matter, when you have a flight, bus, or train to catch.

You do not want to miss the first few minutes of the lecture in the grad school. Professors know the significance of being on time, and some of them like to give pop quizzes in the first five minutes of the class. Now you can imagine why it is so important to be on time for a job interview.

All we have to do is ask ourselves the question, “Whose time is it?”

When you respect the person, you respect their time.

In a project titled 'The Fourth Dimension and Beyond', it is stated, “In the study of the universe, it is convenient to think of time as the fourth dimension. Time is portrayed as one continuum with the past, present, and future existing all at once.”

Let us look at the three dimensions, which are typically considered to be height, breadth and width. According to Einstein’s relativity, the fourth dimension is time.

Let us look at our simple life; when we write a letter, we make sure to write the date, and it helps us identify the ‘when’ factor. Luckily, the emails give us the time factor as well. It adds to our perception.

Time gives us an insight into history. But many feel either we are bad at time management or the clock is ticking away faster than before.

In March 2024, a study in the journal Nature said, “For the first time in history, world timekeepers may have to consider subtracting a second from our clocks in a few years because the planet is rotating a tad faster than it used to. Clocks may have to skip a second.”

This second that is to be skipped is called a ‘negative leap second,’ and that may be around 2029.

Yet again there might be one group of people who might feel the days are dragging on without anything to be excited about.

This is when we have to rethink how to make life purposeful. It is not the second needle that dictates how fruitful the days of our lives are. We need to know our purpose and then master the art of time management. And for time management, it is essential to know the priorities. We tend to float around because we have so many interests. But there comes a time when you have to draw a line between what is beneficial, what needs to be followed up on, and what can be dropped.

We also need to learn to say ‘no,' which can be quite difficult at times. But if we need to move on, there is a need quite often to reflect, realign, and readjust. Of course, we need to know our goals. Once we achieve them, we need to evolve to find new goals.

Finding new goals requires learning, and that is why it is important to read and learn new things. After all, change is forever a constant feature. Instead of fighting against it, embrace it and the situation provides us a new opportunity to explore new beginnings.

All of this belongs to time. When we are a teenager, we are on an internal journey- getting to know ourselves and shaping our personality. But what we have to remember is that time does not look back to see if you have caught up. We have to move and realise this opportunity might never come up again, and even if the opportunity does arise, your priority might have seen a change.

As long as the priority is beneficial for all, brings you true happiness, and adds meaning to your life, it should be fulfilled.