How would you describe time? Clocks are used to signify time passing, but what does the word time mean to you? How do you spend your time, and are you satisfied with the time that has passed thus far in your life? Do you ever wish that you could go back in time, or fast forward time?
For some, time seems to fly by and for others, time goes by very slowly. Similar to the word experience, the word “time” generally has a lot of phrases or slogans that go along with it. From “time flies when you’re having fun” to “time heals all wounds,” we are constantly surrounded by time cliches.
For me, time is a very strange concept. I have always had a lot of anxiety surrounding time and what time means. When I was younger, I would cry at bedtime because I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to wake up in time for school the following morning. Although it seems very unrealistic now, it was a very real experience for me when I was in grade school.
I have had two unique experiences in which time did not matter. The first was on a school immersion trip to El Salvador. In El Salvador, I experienced a totally different lifestyle. Since we lived with the families in the community, we were totally immersed in the culture. As the week passed, I noticed that time was not viewed as critically as it is in the United States. Since the schedules of the locals were not specifically based on time, everything was a lot more relaxed. There was a lot less pressure regarding scheduling and being “on time.”
The other experience I had in which time did not matter was as a retreat leader. On senior retreat, all of the clocks are covered by signs that say “God’s Time.” This, in itself, relieved a lot of the anxiety I was facing.
To this day I do not like being late, yet I often find myself struggling to be punctual. Procrastination is one of my worst enemies and no matter how hard I try, I seem to wait until the last minute to get things done.
Recently, I’ve been struggling to realize that although time is passing, my time is not running out. I know that with a simple paradigm shift, it would be easier to see time as a positive instead of negative.
Although time never waits for us, it is important for us to remember that there is not a given path that everyone must follow. We are all human beings and each person is different in the fact that every person has their own path to walk in life. I often feel self conscious for having to take off time from school, but as long as I remember that I am doing things in my own time, I know that everything will be okay.
