So, 25% of the year has gone already. One of the big retail chains was advertising a winter sale on the box last week, and the missus complained we had not been to the beach much this summer (and we live at the beach!).
“Time just flies these days” — how many times have you heard someone say that?
The fact is, of course, time doesn’t fly — a minute still takes 60 seconds to complete, and a day isn’t any less than 24 hours, apart from those mornings when the hangover is so bad and there seems to be a missing four-hour segment of your life.
There are institutions that can help in those circumstances — and it’s not the one which offers road-side assistance. What a killing they would make if they did offer road-side assistance — perhaps killing was the wrong verb to use?
Anyway, getting back to the subject at hand — which is that time is constant. It’s all us fools who operate within it, and insist in jamming two minutes into one, a day and a half into 22 hours, always thinking there is another week before the bills have to be paid. And that Christmas is months away on the first day of the 12 days of Christmas song.
Why do we do it? Why do we have this misconception of ourselves that we are not mortal humans but made up from some superior being?
If you ask that question of 10 people, they will all come up with similar excuses — such as, everybody is demanding more from them, and it’s true.
But why are these people demanding more? It’s because other people in their circles are demanding more. So we have this huge knock-on effect.
Is there a way off the merry-go-round? Of course, you can jump off at any time you please — just mind your step and happy landing.
And there’s the crux — the landing. Where will you land?
For some who take the leap, they land in a pile called something different, but still travelling at the same speed — ie, two minutes into one. Then there are some who land in a hole and become totally lost.
It’s not easy to find that perfect landing place where one minute equals 60 seconds and you get full job satisfaction, a great life away from work and enough cash to make it all happen. There’s only enough room for one publishing magnate and magazine editor!
So what’s the answer to all these non-existent minutes we need to fulfill our commitments? There is only one answer — and it’s not to invent more minutes, it’s to cut down on the commitments.
Now that does not put me into the realms of Einstein, or the many Greek philosophers who have unspellable names — it’s just a common sense equation.
An hour holds 60 minutes’ worth of commitments, not 84.5 or even, at a push, not quite 65.
Now, you’re probably expecting an earth-shattering explanation from these pages of wisdom that will change your life forever.
Unfortunately not — because, just like time and minutes, this publishing magnate only allows me 600 words a month, and trying to fit in 1278 — well, it just doesn’t work.
So tune in next month for the remaining 678 words (only if I use small words), and learn a few tips to slow the passage of time.
