Is time really on your side, or does it work for or against you?

I was watching a video on Amazon Prime and one of the characters said to another that the most powerful weapon was time. An interesting idea. Can you weaponise time?

Time is interesting. It passes faster or slower depending on what we are doing. If you have been through a traumatic event in your life, time may not be the silver bullet, but it helps the healing process. Age is a function of time. At certain times in your life, you wish time would pass more quickly but time also means that we are all ageing and bits start aching, or stop working, in part or whole.

Over time, enemies can become friends and vice versa. The recent D-Day ceremonies remind us that bitter enemies can become friends and allies with time. Germany and Japan were not invited to the 1948 Olympics. It was too soon after the war. But now, not having them present would be unthinkable.

With time some memories fade, others seem to be vivid and fresh but they can change over time. By the way, I have no memory of the 1948 Olympics. I was watching a program about them last night.

How do you manage time? My life revolves around my diary, which these days I access on my laptop or my phone. It tells me what office I need to be in, it tells me if I have accommodation booked and where, when and how I am travelling. It also tells me the day of the week, which sometimes can be quite useful.

Anyway, I was wondering how anyone can use time to their advantage. Is it something that exists separate from us and is just a measure of our lives, and can we use it to achieve our goals?

Having broken my wrist early in 2022, I can honestly say that time is a great healer. I did it when I crashed my car on the A9 near Alness. The car definitely came off worse. I needed time for my wrist to get sorted (I now have a plate and screws) and also, I needed time to pass so that my insurance premiums start going down again.

When I was young, I remember the school summer holiday going on forever. I now cannot believe how quickly 2024 has gone. The nights are drawing in and we have already booked the joint Xmas meal for our Inverness and Elgin offices.

Is time really elastic? Can it stretch or shorten? I don’t seem to be able to manipulate it. So, who is in control of time?

Could it be that time is indeed some abstract concept and what we are really talking about is existence? Time is the artificial measurement that we have conjured up to signify the passing of existence. It is a measure, a peg board where we can stick events and appointments and organize not just our own lives but those of the people around us.

So, time is my watch, my phone and my diary. Nothing more.

Many years ago, when I first drove my future father-in-law’s tractor on his farm, the gauge in front of me was not mileage, but hours. The hours on that gauge said nothing about the life of that tractor, whether worked hard or not. It was just one measure to describe that tractor and how long the engine had been running.

Is it not the same with age? We all have an age and hours on the clock, but some people age more quickly than others. Part of that is how well we each look after our own bodies, but in large part, I think this comes from attitude and how we want to ride the wave of the time left in our lives. My mother used to help out in an old people’s home, helping to serve lunches to the old dears as she referred to them. Most of them were younger than she was. There was an attitude there. I like to think she passed it on.

We maybe cannot control time, but we can certainly control how we use and experience it. Sometimes that option is taken away from us and there are many people who suffer some debilitating illness irrespective of the way they organised their time in the past. That is just one of life’s uncertainties.

But, as far as you are able, you control how you spend the rest of your time on this rock. Your choice, nobody else can tell you otherwise unless you let them.

Tempus fugit. So, take control. Set your goals, make your plans and fill your own diary

 

Alan E Long

The Long Partnership

07770 738770