Time and its Grip on Life
Ever wonder why, in this fast-paced democratic regime that is North America, we as free inhabitants with so many liberties prescribed to us, are, at the same time, so constrained by the boundaries of time?
From the day we were born to the inevitable day of our passing, time is something that we absolutely abhor given its unwillingness to compromise with our daily lives. Whenever we decide to take on tasks to occupy ourselves with, the harsh reality we are left to fend off amounts to a persistent race against time. Sadly, from the get go, this race is one we will always lose. To add insult to injury, we as its subjects are the ones who have to concede, so there is no way to turn back this existential clock that overwhelms all of us.
Though this clash against the forces of time is a perpetual uphill battle, so to speak, there are some upsides to it (depending on how you take it). For those of us who are privileged to find the so called “time to kill” in their daily 24 hour grind, the sense of wasting time arguably equates to paranoia. You may ask yourself, “What if I had not spent all that mindless hours watching TV? What if I had read a book instead or cleaned my room?” This begs the question of the productiveness of our lives which is another can of worms that I wish to abstain from opening up. Essentially, time can be compared to money: it has value to it, but that just depends on how much you value it.
Given the fact that we are in an institution of higher learning (or so we are led to believe), it is beyond me how we manage to incorporate everything ranging from sleep, academics, work, and social activities into our seemingly bounded lives. What happened to those days when one would give time for him/herself? We as individuals are so accustomed to our respective routines that we rarely find the time (pun intended) to question the merits of our time confined lives. This dogmatic approach is unfortunate but the last thing we humans want is uncertainty.
As a final note, remember this: when you meticulously scribble down the concluding paragraph of your term paper that is due within a few hours or so, think to yourself, “Why am I so keen on meeting this deadline that is recommended of me?” Perhaps it is our duty to, at the very least, give ourselves one day to roam free from the external impediments imposed by time.