Time: We all want it to pass so quickly. When we’re kids, all we want to do is be grownups; we chase down the minutes, hours and years until we’re old enough to get our license, graduate, drink, move out and move on. We wait for time to pass, anxious and unappreciative of the days that seem to crawl past in our slow adolescence.
Then we’re in our twenties and we just can’t wait to be taken seriously. Can’t wait to buy our first apartment, own a French press, throw away money on red ropes and bottle service. We start paying our dues for a pretend future we live in more than the actual present.
We envision our future selves, successful, secure and rich, always rich. But when we’re finally there, finally rich, successful and established, we’ll only be wondering where all the time went.
Your wealth won’t seem as good now that you can’t enjoy it the way you once imagined in your twenties. Your apartment seems empty without all the minutes, hours and years to fill it with. Those trips you waited to take don’t seem as great with grey hair and a speeding clock by your side. Suddenly, you’re not so sure you should have wasted all that time asking it to speed up.
Our parents always tell us that life goes by in the blink of an eye. Our grandparents tell us it’s over before we know it. They tell us to cherish our youth, enjoy it while it lasts, because it will be gone before you realize the scarcity of it.
Many of us have yet to hit that critical moment when we look back and realize there’s more time behind us than there will ever be in front of us. We have yet to lament over it, wishing we had slowed down. We have yet to find out too late that time is worth more than money. Time is worth more than VIP lounges, corner offices and 18-hour work days. And your time is worth more than anything. It’s worth more than days spent stressing and agonizing, it’s worth more than bad nights in and worse nights out. It’s worth more than sleeping the day away or refusing to acknowledge another sunrise.
The older you get, the more you realize time isn’t on your side. It’s the boy you chased away only to realize he's the only one who matters and now it’s too late. It’s the girl you ignored until you realized her beauty and it was too late. It’s the deceiving, silent enemy in our lives that you can either learn to control or give in to. However you decide to treat it, just know it’s never on your side:
It Won’t Slow Down So You Can Catch Up
Time has no patience for the weak or the slow. It doesn’t care if you want to spend a week watching Netflix and eating Lays, it just won't come back for you. It doesn't have patience, tolerance or sympathy for those who can't keep up or don't know how to use it without regrets.
There’s Never More When You Need It
There are no extras, no hand outs and definitely no bonuses. Time is like that strict teacher who will never round you up a point, even a half point. It will never help you find the answers or let you cheat off it, because it’s really just cheating you.
It Doesn’t Care If You’re Running Out
Time has no remorse. It doesn’t care if you’re young, old, lived a full life or hardly lived at all. It will cut you short whenever it pleases and has no shame in giving you little warning.
It Doesn’t Care How Much Money You Have
It doesn’t matter how rich you are or how much money you make, you can never get the time back you wasted. Time has no preference for the rich, beautiful or the intelligent. It has an odd way of reminding you that it doesn’t care if you’re rich or poor, it will get you either way.
It Sneaks Up On You When You Least Expect It
Like that stalker in high school you couldn't get rid of, time is always lurking around. It seems to just hang there, never leaving the corner of your mind. And when you're not thinking about it, not realizing it's there anymore, it comes up behind you and you realize it's never going to leave you alone.
It Never Warns You When You’re Running Low
Your time could stop at any moment. Time doesn’t slow down because you're running out. It doesn’t stop so you can appreciate the moment or give you more time to do everything you wanted to do, but it especially doesn't give you warning when it's about to be too late.
It Makes You Think You Have An Unlimited Amount
When you’re young, time seems infinite. It feels like you can waste days on end and it won’t even make a dent. It makes you believe that old age is a fate that will never happen and will forever be on the side of the young.
It Likes To Play Games With You
It loves to slow down at work and speed up at play. It hides when you need it and stabs you in the back when you think you’re ahead of it. It doesn't give hints, clues or warnings, and always makes sure you know it's around when you'd rather not be aware.
It Won’t Give You A Break Because You’re Sick
There is never enough time to get over the flu and when you have to use your sick days to cover your aching joints, time seems to be the most unaccountable friend you have. You'll never understand why 24 hours isn’t enough time to heal yourself, but is always enough time to just about ruin your life.
It Always Goes Faster On Vacation
Why is it that a week on vacation never feels like a week? It’s like the second you get on the plane, there’s a warp and days become minutes as you find yourself wishing for one of the few times in your over-worked life that it would just slow the f*ck down.
It Always Has A Price
You can’t pay to get more, but it always feels like you're giving up something for it. You can’t be in two places at once, can’t stay up all night long, can’t spend a year traveling and that same year working. Time always demands a sacrifice, and it’s the things you give it and the things you refuse to pay that determine the worth of your time.
