on time, the commodity ...
I had never thought of time as an allotted gift but I suppose that if we are to think that either in my genes or by God given will my days are counted, one can conclude that time is a very specific and measurable thing. On the spectrum of eternity one can also think that time (the time we are allotted to live on this earth, on this life, our day to day experiences) is but a portion of this continuum, a rather small portion but a finite portion nonetheless.
If time is one of the assets I have been given with birth, what am I supposed to do with it? I purposely used the word asset to make the jump unto this idea of time as an asset. Is it time an asset? is it valuable? can it yield future value? Muslims believe time is a "amaanah" a trust rather, something given to us by the supreme creator in trust, something we are ought to respond for one day. Budhists call it either "ksana" or "kalpa" the units of measurement of such thing as time and that the realization of Nirvana will end with this illusion of time but rather on a eternal bliss. Whether this or that the concepts seem similar:
1. There is a space of time given to every human on this earth.
2. The amount is limited by birth and by death.
3. Time as measure of progress will end one day, only if progress is to stop that is.
My son is participating on a common contest run by the stock market, the game starts with an allocation of an specific amount of money given to all participants and they are to choose stocks to invest in; they can trade every day if necessary. The game ends in 60 days and the winner obviously will be the one who made the most out of the investing the principal given. If time is an asset I like the idea that every morning we get a deposit of $86,400.00 and here are the rules of this game:
1. Every morning we get 86,400 (seconds.)
2. They cannot be saved nor kept for the next day, they all must be used daily, actually instantly, every second counts and every second is unretrievable, once is gone is gone.
3. No one knows when their game will end.
4. Because time itself is not but a measure rather, one is to invest it to obtain other things.
The obvious question is what do I invest my time on? well, that depends on priorities, desires, goals. As we set goals and priorities in our lives time becomes that ally that will help us achieve them and keep our priorities in place; procrastination is said to be the thief of time, but it is more than that, it is rather the thief of our self-esteem. The enemy of any investment is depreciation, the lowering of value of what we invest on. What is there that won't lose value over time? I can name a few things such as education, good working habits, etc but I am of the opinion that the ultimate thing that doesn't corrode as time passes is human relationships, they not only increase in value but they last (an eternity I hope.) Every second invested on a human relationship is a second well invested.
Next time I am idling around I will think of this investment and how is my $86,400 a day allowance going. I just run into an interesting writing about last minute things, or under pressure personalities, nothing wrong with that kind of decision making, which I am glad to hear because I do that, yet still posses the question of what about the rest of my time? I also found how important relaxing time is, time to pause, to reflect, to meditate, to find inner peace, an amazing quote from the Dalai Lama: "Scientists are coming to recognize the effects of the mind on physical health. The sense of relaxation associated with inner peace involves not only being physically at ease. If you are nagged by worry or seething with anger, you’re not really relaxed. The key to relaxation is peace of mind. The relaxation gained from alcohol, drugs or just listening to music may seem attractive, but it doesn’t last."
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