The Beauty of Time

We often see time as cruel, it comes and goes quite literally in the blink of an eye. We see time as apathetic, a thief pickpocketing us, taking what we value most leaving us blindsighted and helpless. Time, the name itself places images in our mind, a deadline, a lifespan, a clock hanging above our heads. When you ask a person what time brings you don’t often hear positive things, “time is money”, “time is a thief”, “time waits for no man”. However in the midsts of seeing what it takes, we let it slip our minds how much of it we lose from our own actions. Often we waste time, scrolling for hours on end, deciding which face to swipe right on, or simply letting your life pass you by without taking a moment to do something with it. I am no saint nor am I preaching for you to change your lifestyle, because this is the pattern I observe in myself. I watch my life wither away and I do nothing to stop it, my life is chained to a routine which can be unflinching. However when I take a step back, I cannot blame time for any of this, time continues to pass, my actions were the only thing that brought me to where I am today. When I step back and remiss on the moments I blamed time for taking, I forgot to realize that time is what made it so special. Time is what gives life meaning, it takes, but it also gives. Without an end the beginning will be a fleeting moment of happiness. Acknowledging time as a gift rather than a thief is probably an idea you have heard or thought of before. The idea I am presenting to you is one I have heard before, I am told to stop holding on to the past, let go of the pain, and move on with life before it disappears. In doing so the bitterness may leave but it takes the memories with it too, I decided that the only way to see the beauty of time, is accepting the pain it brings as well as the joy. D.H Sidebottom said it best, “Stars can’t shine without darkness”. You cannot have happiness without sadness. Time is something we truly take for granted, it’s dangerous because when you’re on the inside, you can’t see how much time has changed you. While time can take things suddenly, the hardest it can strike us is when we don’t notice how much its taken over the years. Time is scary when it acts quickly, but it’s terrifying when you recognize how much it can do when it's undetected. A wave can take you under quickly and bring you right back up in the matter of a couple of seconds, but it can also slowly chip away, creating valleys in its wake. This isn’t supposed to be a treatise on how depressing time is, but a recognition of how much we have to cherish it. I suppose I could finish this with a catchy call of action such as “Seize the day!”, or “Take control of your time!”, but truthfully, the choice is yours. -Linda Gherardi