time
June 9, 2008 by Betmo
there is something more precious than money or things- and it is something that we never seem to have enough of- and that’s time. there are only 24 hours each day and it never seems to be enough time to cram everything in we want to do- but why? nothing irks me more than getting tailgated or passed on the highway by people who have to go 800 miles per hour. why is your time so much more valuable than mine? and why didn’t you leave earlier? why is it that we don’t have enough time? i look around and i see folks at work- and i know that we, here in new america, work longer hours than ever before. i also know that people waste much time shopping. and is it really necessary for your kids to be in every activity under the sun? in the grander scheme of things, i guess it doesn’t matter.
time is something that we are running out of. yes, i know we are all going to die someday but i am talking about quality of life. our world is changing at a speed never seen before- and in a way never seen before. i don’t know if we can turn back the tide of global climate change- many leading scientists feel it’s already too late. greed and lust for power and profits were put in front of the well being of billions of people over 40 years ago- and we have inherited that legacy. and really, what is it that we are wasting time for? a bigger house? a home full of stuff and a storage facility brimming with the overflow?
life is too short. i am reminded of that daily as i spend time with my mom. she is a remarkable chick, my mom. no matter how tired she was after working all day- she never missed a teacher’s conference or school play- or even band concert. she was always there for my sister and me. she gave of her time. i feel it is the very least i can do to spend some time with her. my dishes will always be dirty and there will always be laundry or vacuuming to do. and who really cares? i don’t have time to be a neat freak- i have life to live and people to spend time with. isn’t that what really matters? how many parents and children really know each other? how many good friends make the time to chat or get together?
human beings are social creatures by nature and we need each other. we will need each other and the relationships we build now more than ever- as our global world comes crashing down around us and everything will need to become local again. the problem i see is a whole lotta folks with no learned social skills as to how to build relationships. look around you at the folks at the grocery store- or the laundromat- or the gas station or mall. you see kids plugged into handheld games and parents aimlessly shopping for bargains. no one talks anymore. we pay lip service to caring- but we don’t unless it directly effects us.
barack obama ran on the ‘yes, we can’ ticket for change. i do see younger people reaching out to embrace the message and it makes me feel like there may be hope for humankind on some days. race isn’t as big a deal for younger people; gender isn’t as big a deal to younger people; religion isn’t as big a deal for younger people- and it is their world that will be so very fraught with challenges and dangers we have never had to face. ‘time keeps on ticking, ticking, ticking into the future’ and it is catching up with me now. i realized- i mean really realized- this year that i am closer to middle age than adolescence- and it’s weird. i am 37 years old and i don’t feel old but it kind of sounds old- and i definitely look 37 with my spare tire 
time is our most precious commodity. we need to make the most of it and live within each moment. we never know whose last moment it may be. it could be ours or another loved one. life is precious. we need to realize that people a half a world away are living their moments too- and they feel what we feel and they live each day as we do- building relationships or trying to communicate. our time is no more precious than theirs and our lives are no more precious than theirs. we need to make the most of the time we have left on this planet and not take for granted that we will have and infinite supply.
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one of the things that strikes me as i read what it’s like for expats living in rural mexican villages is that they all ~ every one of them ~ note how strange and wonderful it is to have time simply to sit and think.
who does that anymore? no one. it’s almost impossible in this world to not be plugged into something at all times, be it an ipod, a cell phone or a television. my grandchildren have TVs they can watch in the back seat of my stepdaughter’s gigantic SUV. they’re 3 and 6 months. why? what is the point of that??
my other two grandsons are so addicted to TV that they spent eight hours in front of it yesterday, time my husband and i spent in the garden.
when i hear folks ranting about “socialized medicine,” and how they don’t want to be responsible for the health care costs of fat americans who eat crappy food and don’t take care of themselves or drink or drug too much or whatever, all i can think of is that this world, this country, the way we live here is the most stressful environment conceivable short of living in a war zone or in the midst of a weather-related catastrophe.
it is a subtle kind of stress and at the base is no time. but the reason for no time is that our attention is driven to the constant barrage of technology and noise. there are almost no public spaces free of commerce. it may be subtle as in the nike-branded sponsorship sign or the concert “brought to you by” or whatever, but we are under assault by marketers every moment of every day and that shit works or they wouldn’t do it. so we work and we buy and we work and we buy and we numb out with music (that we buy) and television (that we pay for) and we never step outside of the home without being connected (by our phones) and the result is that we are never free to simply be silent and think.
as a chronic dieter, i can say with some authority that the most stressful times in my life were the times when i ate to escape. doesn’t it seem possible that part of the reason we’re so unhealthy in this country is due to the unrelenting nature of our stressful lives? and again, the stress is so subtle, but it is everpresent and it just doesn’t go away. it is almost impossible to unplug.
it’s a crazy life in this crazy country. i am heartily sick of it. give me that rural mexican village where i can just be quiet within myself. i suspect that in every one of us, even if it’s drowned out by the noise of this way of life, there’s a piece that longs for silence and the time to do nothing.
bigassbelles last blog post..john mccain? "he’s too old to be president"
Time is the most lucrative commodity we have and looking back over life we all wish there were days we could turn back time.
Would so many of these moralogues do their clinging to war and conservatism knowing what we know now, if they could turn back time?
It wouldn’t surprise me and that is the problem.