Each morning I find myself in the same routine. My dreaded alarm goes off, and I use every ounce of motivation to drag my lifeless corpse out of bed to begin my day. I go to work, sit at my desk and keep giving myself tasks to keep from eyeing the clock (which happens to only tick painfully slow). After an uneventful day, nothing brings me more excitement than seeing 4:59 tick to 5:00. As I commute home, inevitably I’ll sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic with wide eyes glued to the clock. “How much longer until I get home?” “How much longer am I going to be sitting in this traffic?” Once home, I finally get to relax. My eyes now only linger to the clock occasionally. This time, however, it is out of disappointment- “It’s already this late?”

This routine I have is solely based on time. I’ve never really regarded how much of my day is dedicated to concerns over time, up until now. I’m either rushing to beat the clock or desperately trying to slow time down. Between those times of helplessness is a time that most people don’t enjoy- life. From the moment you wake up to the moment you rest your head to sleep, your ‘everyday’ activities are the ones you’ll remember during the times you wish you could re-live your life just one more time. Whether it be a few days after you regret not dedicating an extra moment to do something that at the time seemed minor; a few months where you wish you just had one more second to hold someone closer before they were gone; or a few years where you wish you had spared one more second to do something that could have inadvertently changed your whole life.

Sitting here reading this now, are you starting to think about the concept of time as well? This morning as I drove down an extension I had to merge in with cars already whizzing down the highway. All these cars had no intentions of letting me in, due to their own needs to beat their own personal clock. Granted, if we had switched places I would have done the same. But if you think about it--that’s just how life is. From the moment you’re born, you leave the only comfort you’ve ever had and are thrown into the world. The world may coddle you, but only for a short amount of time. Sort of like how an extension gradually introduces you to a highway. However, just as you are gradually introduced on, you’re quickly being forced to join and keep up with the pace of everyone else.

The extra time I do have in my life isn’t really acknowledged and spent the right ways. Instead of being able to act spontaneously, I have work in the morning and going out on a work night doesn’t constitute with the whole ‘adulting’ life. So, the rest of my night is merely spent scrolling on Instagram, Twitter, or whatever other social media app grabs my attention- eventful, huh? At the end of a work week, the time left over to adventure with and enjoy is a mere 48 hours. Out of this 168 hour week, one-fourth of the time is reserved under my name. However, the amount of free-spirited fun I do spend in those 48 shouldn’t be exclusive. The rest of my 120-hour week should be spent flirting with free-spirited fun as well, finding the time to allow myself to live spontaneously.

How you spend your time is decided in a matter of seconds, a few seconds that most don’t really ponder over before making their decision. Just as I find myself either rushing time or trying to freeze time; some either a second too long for something, or devour something so quickly you barely even remember you had it in the first place. When your life flashes before your eyes, have you lived a life with no regrets? The way people spend their time these days, there will be regrets.

Coming out of the womb, you have seconds to take your first breath and open your eyes to witness all the beauty you’re surrounded by.

Merging onto a highway, you have seconds to peer over your shoulder to look behind and see if the road behind you is clear enough for you to move forward.

Always give that one extra second here or there because that one split-second could change the path you’re walking down. If the time doesn’t feel right, don’t dive into an end that’s too shallow. Find that in-between, the in-between where time flows without hesitation and the moments you spend will be remembered for a lifetime. Work, but remember that life is more than making money; it’s about making a life you’ll be proud of living.

After reading this, I hope you too find your fault in mistaking the best way to spend your time. Be aware of the clock, but don’t get caught up, tangled in its time game. Leave your routine for a while and find a new one, live a life from a new perspective. And lastly, spend your free time doing things you love with the people you love- spend the extra second to chase a sunset and watch the sky unfold with the ones who make time for you as well.