We mortals have a thing with time. Jim Croce wanted to put time in a bottle. William Shakespeare compared it to a devouring lion, a tiger, and a phoenix. We save time, shave time, waste time, and regret time’s passing.
In Harry Potter, Hermione gets a time-turner that lets her move between past and present. Wouldn’t that be something? There are moments I wish I could replay exactly as they occurred - maybe to savor the smell of my fresh-from-the-tub, pajamaed toddlers snuggled beside me for a bedtime story.
Other times I’d like a mulligan. I could revisit an event but make a few corrections. I might take an extra moment to look more carefully before backing my car out of the lot or think before saying the hurtful thing.
There were times I wished would have passed more quickly - as a child in anticipation of Christmas, an expectant mother in labor, an exhausted mother weathering her children’s temper tantrums, or a root canal patient in the dentist’s chair. Other times I wanted to slow down and savor - summers on the lake, school vacations, my children’s last year at home, my parents’ passing.
In our attempt to manage time, we try new calendars, download programs, enroll in classes, and buy into time-saving devices. But we don’t stop and ask, What are we saving it for? Time is not a bank account that we can draw from later.
It is foolish to think that time is a foe to vanquish, because let’s face it - time is a bad-ass. No matter what beauty products we purchase to combat time’s onward march, time always wins.
What if, instead, we accept that we can’t bottle, save, manage, or turn back time’s hands? At the end of the day, there is only one thing we can do with time - spend it. With any luck, time gives us what we need to spend it wisely.
So move over Jim Croce, and hello Mick Jagger. I will follow his lead, stop trying to fight it, and embrace time as an ally. At 80 years old, the rocker must know that he chose the right teammate when he sang time is on my side.
YES! Love this. Have you heard the Moody Blues version of "Time Is On My Side?"
Thank you! This is a perfect way to start the day and something to reflect on in the coming days.