The Abstract Concepts of Time

Time to get up! But I just went to bed... Time for your date! I've been waiting for years... Time for a shot... but you just had one a week ago. Out of all the concepts in the world time has got to be the most complicated, yet the most seemingly understood. (Understanding the other gender is, of course, complicated in its entirety, yet little do we understand.) Time flies. Time drags. Time stood still. Time waited for no one. Our lives revolve around time, and so does everything we do. How fast, how slow, how much, how little.

But time is never constant. Sure, a second will always last the same amount, but the cognition of that second to our minds varies all across the spectrum. What's up with that? We'd be pleased if an awesome date seemed as long as the SAT, or if a heartbreak was as short as a much-needed yet interrupted sleep.

Time varies in length because of how we spend it. Humans are pleasure-loving, as are many living things. When we are in a state of happiness, time seems to fly. Think about getting a massage, being on a roller-coaster, watching a good movie, listening to your favorite music, or being with someone you love. Happiness seems a fleeting moment, and the space in between seems like eternities. We grow grey hairs during the 11 Days of Christmas and blink on the 12th before it's gone. The sad times seem to last forever, causing us to believe and feel like we're stuck in a rut while everyone zooms on past us.

And then there's the technology aspect of things. We have all these fancy gadgets, yet why is it that we are being so cramped for time? "Free" time? What is this, some foregone idea of entertaining boredom? Think about texting someone. Sure, you can talk with someone without even having to be there! To punch in each letter one by one... you could say your message 20 to 30 times in the time it takes to type it. Sure, cars take us places fast... but in days gone by when people had to go to the store they'd get enough so they wouldn't have to go back in a few days (or hours). We live at stores, and complain we have no time.

To understand time, we've got to look all the way to the end. Ok, so an assignment has a due date. Why? Why not take a few years to finish up that book report? Because that takes up too much time. Why? Because there's important things to follow. Why not just save those for later? Because you'll be pushing other important things off the end as well. Because sooner or later, we'll run out of time to use. Our time on this earth will be up. Time exists to guage our lives, enabling us to make the most out of what we've got, live life to the fullest, and to become the very best we can be. If there were no death, there would be no time. If we were perfect, there would be no time. There would be organization such as before and after, but without any deadlines or deathbeds there would be no reason or necessity to measure our lives or accomplishments, for we would have eternities.

Time is simply a way to measure what we've done with what we have left to do in our lives.