REMEMBER that post that you have in Facebook that popped out on your timeline and you can’t believe that was taken a year or two years ago? You thought it was only a couple of months back. These early days of January remind us of the unrestrained speed of time and the truth that we cannot do anything to delay it. We can only do something to make these times become meaningful.
A sign that we age is seeing people we do not know appear and people we know slowly disappear. Either they are gone permanently or they transferred residency. Thanks to social media we still get to see old friends and acquaintances in photos but with new faces around them. Imagine going back to your province you left a decade ago. If not for the old people there, you might convince yourself you are stranger to the place. You no longer recognize the toddlers when you left and they also don’t recognize you either. Some old people you wish you see are no longer alive. Some old relatives you wish are there have also gone to the other life. And that’s it, we realize we can only be at a place and moment in a time.
Time flies and this may be good for many. There are pains that only time can heal. It’s the best prescription that we can have because it’s free and effective. The previous year is either a blessing or a challenge. Death of a loved one is devastating. Death of too many loved ones is shattering. When we think of the disasters that tortured us, natural and man-made, it’s disheartening. Tears and support are not enough to heal. For most, it needs the speed of time for them to recover and face the new years ahead. Unfortunately for others, even time cannot take away it all.
Many individuals, at the conclusion of their successful careers, think that their path was not the ideal trail to take despite their career success. A lot of time has been spent in the office, in the field, and at work. With their goal to be on top and be the best, time in its constant movement was mostly spent away from people they love and people who care for them. They would not notice the passing of time, the growth of their children, and the unending change in their surroundings. Life has become one-sided, too monotonous. Time was devoted to single subject. To a single object. With the unadulterated focus, time flew like the easterly winds without them knowing the other facets of life. When they reach the golden years of life, they begin to notice the things around them because work is no longer there. Their strength has left them and wits are beginning to fade. So they see the rest of the world and realize there are ventures they missed to explore. A lot of them. Are there regrets?
My co-teacher say I have to play with my little child while she is still young and when all that she could think is play because once she gets older, the opportunity to play with her is far gone. Time flies like the wind. We think we have more than enough. We think it takes a lot and lot of years for our children to grow. But it only takes a couple of birthdays to celebrate before they replace us with newfound friends to be with. Wives are getting old too and so our parents.
Time is an element of life but it has no care of the living. It lives to see the moon and sun exchange each other’s place. Unless we do something to make our daily life meaningful, time will never be a friend. Time heals the sorrowing but it also bring back memories, sad or joyful.
We have another year to work, to love, to laugh or cry, and to live. Time is making itself available for us to create noteworthy memories. Sometimes we can’t control what happens in these times. But there are many things we have control with, let’s make the best of it. Time may and may not be on our side, but we always have the faculties to deal with it because we are humans.
Happy New Year!