HERE TODAY---GONE TOMORROW

There are two kinds of March Madness. One involves basketball and the other involves resetting clocks.

I once went to Greenwich, near London, to set my watch. Greenwich Mean Time is the clock time at the Royal Observatory. It is not affected by Summertime or Daylight Savings Time. When the sun is at its highest point, exactly above the Prime Meridian, it is 12:00 noon at Greenwich.

Physics is the only science that explicitly studies time, but physicists agree that time is one of the most difficult properties of our Universe to understand.  According to Albert Einstein, “Time is relative and flexible. The dividing line between past, present and future is an illusion.” So, reality is ultimately timeless. George Carlin said it more succinctly, “There is no time. We made it up!”

Often, time becomes animate. How often have I said, “Time just got away from me,” like I was chasing it down the street. Dickens hedged his bets when he wrote, “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” And, I am reminded that theologian, A.W. Tozer said, “ When you kill time, remember that it has no resurrection.”

It seems as if time wears all kinds of mantles. A person can invest time, waste time, steal time or experience a good time or a bad time. I have never seen time fly, but people claim that it does, so it must have wings. I know it flies really fast, because before I know it, time has passed me by, and I can never catch it because it only goes in one direction. That’s why I often feel that there is never enough time in my day.

Abe Lincoln philosophically said, “The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.” Although, Tennessee Williams said, “Time is the longest distance between two places.” So why does it often seem so short?

Time is a conundrum, but here’s what I know, “Everything in life is timing.” (and a good attitude can’t hurt.)

There are professionals who can teach us how to better manage time, but even that lesson can be fleeting since, unfortunately, often nothing really gets done until the last minute. P.J. Plauger advises, “Never put off until tomorrow what you can put off forever.” How timely is that!  

And, is it really wasting time if you are having fun? So, maybe it’s okay to say, “Sorry I’m late. I just didn’t want to come.”

Esther Blumenfeld