I have found that as I grow up, time has evolved into something I am forever trying to figure out. As soon as I think I have, I am once again proven wrong.
Example A: The "average" work week. 5 days long. 8 hours a day. Nothing rocket science about this. However, have something exciting waiting for you at the end of that week, and it feels like eons before you get done. Or have trying projects, coworkers, customers, etc and the week feels like purgatory where you can't pray enough for it to be done.
Example B1: The weekend. If there is nothing of significance going on, a weekend can feel like it lasts f-o-r-e-v-e-r. Not that you want Monday to get here any quicker, but you certainly don't want to get ready for bed and realize it is only 7p.
Example B2: The weekend. On the polar side of this, you have the weekend that follows the former part of "Example A." You wait all week for the weekend like a kid waits for Christmas morning and Santa. When it finally gets here, you are beside yourself with joy. You wake up early and go to sleep late to maximize your ability to enjoy it. But despite your best efforts, Monday is knocking on your door and got your alarm in on the plot for kicking your ass and making it feel like you were just in a time warp that didn't actually happen. All you have are faint memories and gummie bears as proof of the joy that passed too swiftly.
Example C: The promise. As as adult, we tend to be cynically hopeful. While it doesn't seem like a logical combination, it is. Take my word for it. Work promises us, family promises us, friends promise us. We are hopeful that things follow through, but we are doubtful just in case they don't. "Hope for the best, but expect the worst" is a pretty clear way of putting it.
Example D: The year. Ever January we make lists of how this year is going to be different. How we are going to improve our lives, act different, eat different, work different, date different, etc. And then, before we know it, Spring is upon us with it's dewy glow of hope for something wonderful. Summer follows close after, not missing a beat, comforting us with its warm embrace. Fall sneaks up on us, lets us think that we have some more time left to hang out with Summer, only to realize that while we were distracted with the warmth, the smells, the food, everything around us changed. And before we are even able to get our barrings on what just happened, winter swoops in with is bitter attitude and slaps us in the face. Reminds us who is boss. We bundle up. Find our layers. Huddle together for warmth wondering where the year went and what we did with it.
On the plus side, I was actually quite productive with my year and pleased as to where I am at the moment. Made a lot of life decisions, and they seem to be working out for the better. However, in regards to Example C, when someone tells you a time frame for something to be done, multiply that by two and a half (minimally) and then be prepared to expect exactly that, if not longer. THAT, my friends, has been my most recent disappointment with time.
Ok, sweety I don't know exactly what you can do with a degree in Communications, but after reading this and your sarcastic yet honest yet witty way with words, you should so be a columnist for some magazine or paper! I totally feel you on everything you wrote in this blog. I always feel the exact same way. Time goes ridiculously slow when there's nothing going on, but stupidly fast when you're begging it to crawl. Unfortunately, until I figure out how the blasted cogs fit together for the time machine I ordered (instructions in Chinese), I can't help either of us get any of that lost time back. For now, all any of us can do is make the best of our time. Spend as much time with loved ones as possible, dance around like a freak with a drink in hand whenever we feel like it just for the hell of it, take care of ourselves best we can, not over-work if we can manage, and relax whenever we rarely find the time. Live life to its fullest, so when your time comes to an end you can look back and say "Nope, I didn't waste 1 damn minute!", and go out with a bang!
ReplyDeleteLuv ya! ~Brandi C
Sarcastic, yet honest, yet witty way with words.
ReplyDeleteI confess, I didn't pick up on your sarcasm here. Your honesty... I guess, you're mainly being introspective, which is to say, talking to yourself. Honesty with yourself is relative to the audience.
You are, however, viciously witty. Frankly, I would like to know more about things that get to you, your perspective, etc. I think you could take that pretty far.
I also blame you for getting Simon and Garfunkel stuck in my head:
"Time, time, time, see what's become of me while I looked around for my possibilities, I was so hard to please; but look around, leaves are brown and the sky is a hazy shade of winter"
Still, I understand where you're coming from. It's a good place to be in, honestly. I can't say I share the sentiment any longer after having something seemingly innocuous be life-threatening--doctors and nurses telling me part of me had died. Time becomes something more. Then something less. It's so precious even while being wasted. It becomes irrelevant while remaining essential.
I read this and think you were expecting something more 10 years after high school... that there are things they didn't tell you; things the teachers felt but didn't pass on.
I hope this feeling of oldness spawns wisdom and that you continue your introspection. I'm fascinated to see what comes of it.
Unnecessarily commented,
Chris