Nivedita Kamath Week# 11: Time Isn't Money; It's Power.
Time Isn't Money; It's Power
Time structures everything we do. As far as we are concerned, it cannot be manipulated, created, or reversed. Everyone imagines time differently. It can be seen as a force pushing us forward, something stationary that we are constantly moving into, something rushing through us and into our past, something moving alongside us, etc. Like most abstract concepts, time cannot be seen, but its impact on anything from random items to the universe proves just how powerful it can be.
I imagine time in two ways. In the present, time seems to blow towards me like wind, so fast that a moment becomes history the second I think about it. In the long term, I imagine time like a block of gel, stationary as I squish my way through. The difference between these two comparisons is how I imagine the future. In the short term, I know exactly what I want to do and how I want to do it. While in a never-ending war with procrastination, time seems to quit only once my head hits the pillow and I allow myself to sleep. I cannot turn around and move with the wind; there just never is enough time. In the long term, since I cannot foresee the paths I will take, time does not become a restriction. I know that one day I will go to college, buy a house, a car, get a job, etc., but how I will feel about myself and my life is unknown. With time as a gel, I could potentially head back, try new paths and explore different versions of who I can be, from switching careers, moving to a new country, gaining experiences, developing relationships—the possibilities are endless. I may not be turning back time, but I hope to be less restricted by it.
But here lies my dilemma: with every moment, I want to stay focused on what needs to get done before time runs out, all while working towards a future I believe will set me free from time and hand me the privilege to explore my passions. I seem to be waiting for time to stop, when I know it cannot.
Every time I change my perspective on how I should approach life, I am determining what is worth my time. The passing seconds, hours, weeks, years . . . prompt me to take action, change courses, and find a purpose rather than regret any time wasted in the past. Time manipulates how we view life. If I were but a mayfly, with only 24 hours to live, I would not waste a second on a thought. Mayflies have evolved to inherently reproduce as fast as possible before they die, fulfilling the only purpose they have time to fulfill. With more time comes more responsibility, endeavors, and knowledge compacted within the human race. Time has given us the power to accomplish more than any single mind could ever dream of. It will outlast everything in existence, for it confines the existence of everything.
Something interesting I notice with time every year is how fast it changes from January to March. After the holidays pass and the initial new year passes by, it is only a blink of an eye before I realize it is March. Blink again and it is summer break. Blink twice and I am back to where I started. I also started writing down a list of things I actually considered worth my time, but I honestly was too overwhelmed to really think of anything to put. While prioritizing time is important to an extent, I personally believe living life casually without thinking too much about time is also worth every second as well.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that prioritizing important things to do is something we should all keep track of. That being said, is it something we should be doing all the time? Our lives seem to be going in the flash of an eye. Sometimes when someone reminds me that I'm almost an adult, I find it so hard to believe because it doesn't feel like that at all. Time flies and that's a fact but I feel like more than trying to follow a schedule we make to know exactly what we are doing all our lives, we should make sure to complete important tasks while also making the time we are in this world worth it. We should live life the way we want while doing the things we need to do. I really loved your blog and how you looked at power through time.
ReplyDeleteTime is one of the resources where you cannot make more of it. Similarly, when people say give me more time, they are essentially saying I need to spend more of your valuable time and my time to get it done. Although I enjoy reading my comments blogs, I sometimes wonder if a large amount of time blog comments take out of my day is worth it. For example, short deadlines on assignments have encouraged students to copy others and “bs” work in order to study for other subjects. With that being the case, is it really smart for schools to require students to take 6 subjects rather than focus on a few that they want to pursue and perfect?
ReplyDeleteYour assertion is justified by statistics. Through data, it has been shown that people that start education, work, or their self-work earlier lead to greater success later in life. People that invest at 18 vs people that invest at 25 generate many more millions over the course of their lifetime. Time is power and it is important to capitalize on that early on. Some people work really hard early in their life to reap benefits later in life. Others work hard for their entire life just to enjoy a short retirement. A few people enjoy it all and only do what they love. Everyone chooses a different way to spend their time, but the hope for everyone is getting to a place where the slow tick of time doesn't matter anymore.
ReplyDeleteHey Nivedita, time usually isn't the first thing that comes to mind when contemplating power, so I love that you brought this point up along with the dual perceptions of time. On one hand, I always feel like I have so little time to finish what I need to get done, but at the same time, I sometimes feel the pressure that extensive time brings. Knowing that there's still so much of my life left makes me more inclined to make better use of the time I have now so I can enjoy my time later on. It also promotes a semblance of obligation to actually make an impact and do something substantial with the plentiful time I have left, instead of just enjoying every second like a mayfly may do.
ReplyDeleteHi Nivedita! This blog topic is super relevant to my life today. The one superpower I would choose would be to freeze time. Especially with the stress of junior year, time has been flying by and there never seems to be enough. With this immense buildup of assignments, I also find it much more difficult to just live in the moment. I definitely agree that time is power.
ReplyDeleteHi Nivedita! First of all, I love your title! Time is really important, and I like to look at it in two ways. There is a positive way and a negative way, both of which mirror the two perspectives you talk about. The positive way I look at it is that time is endless, signifying endless possibilities. The fact that time is not limiting tells me that I can try, try, and try again. But the same time scares me when it is chopped up into short time deadlines. When an assignment is due, for example, I often worry about time running out, as you mention. But I too come to the same conclusion as you. Time is endless and spans much more than all I am worried about.
ReplyDeleteHi Nivedita! Ever since I was young, my dad would tell me that time is the most valuable thing there is and that it must be used wisely, as there is not much of it. It is true, everyone has the same amount of time in a day, but the different choices we make, the places we choose the spend the time ultimately alter our futures. I find time a very powerful and scary topic as it can never be stopped. It does not wait for you. It is the only thing that will bring you to all your inevitable ends.
ReplyDeleteHi Nivedita, I completely agree. Time is everything. It’s the only thing that we have very limited control over, making it very powerful. We haven’t figured out how to control time, so we can’t go back in time and change something we regret, or go forward in time to see the future and potentially alter something that would lead to a better future. I also think it is interesting how time can feel like it is either going by very slowly, or rushing by very quickly, based on our perception of it.
ReplyDelete