One of the challenges of being young is the inability to completely appreciate the concept of time. For those who are much older and who have lived life, there are two profound realizations of time:
Realization #1 - When we are young, we feel there is an infinite amount of time. We have our whole life ahead of us. There are many more days to come than the amount of days we have already lived. We feel that we will always have the time to do certain things, to accomplish goals and dreams and to even say the things we want to say to the people that we want to say them to. This is why procrastination is more often found in young people than in the older folks. Those who have lived life have realized that time tends to pass us by much more quickly than we anticipate and they see the time they have wasted. They realize that seasons are only 3 months long and it takes a another nine for that season to return.
Realization #2 - When we are young, we feel that every single second matters and if we waste one moment, we will never get it back and we will never make it up. If I get sick and miss a day of practice, I will never get that day back and I will never reach my goals. If I miss out on this one experience with friends, it will never be made available again (FOMO). This is why we see younger people rushing around much more than older folks. We think this is the case because older people are slow and frail. This may be partially true but what is more true is that those with experience have rushed around themselves and have finally realized that it is a waste of energy. We realize that seasons come and seasons go but they eventually come back around again and sometimes the season is better than the previous year.
The Point - As we get older, we realize that both of our youthful assumptions about time have some element of truth but there needs to be a balance. Time is infinite, so we need to make a conscious effort to take advantage of the opportunities that we have and although making the most of time matters, it doesn't matter as much as we think, so if we miss something, we must be content and know that every moment isn't a "make or break" moment in time.
Realization #1 - When we are young, we feel there is an infinite amount of time. We have our whole life ahead of us. There are many more days to come than the amount of days we have already lived. We feel that we will always have the time to do certain things, to accomplish goals and dreams and to even say the things we want to say to the people that we want to say them to. This is why procrastination is more often found in young people than in the older folks. Those who have lived life have realized that time tends to pass us by much more quickly than we anticipate and they see the time they have wasted. They realize that seasons are only 3 months long and it takes a another nine for that season to return.
Realization #2 - When we are young, we feel that every single second matters and if we waste one moment, we will never get it back and we will never make it up. If I get sick and miss a day of practice, I will never get that day back and I will never reach my goals. If I miss out on this one experience with friends, it will never be made available again (FOMO). This is why we see younger people rushing around much more than older folks. We think this is the case because older people are slow and frail. This may be partially true but what is more true is that those with experience have rushed around themselves and have finally realized that it is a waste of energy. We realize that seasons come and seasons go but they eventually come back around again and sometimes the season is better than the previous year.
The Point - As we get older, we realize that both of our youthful assumptions about time have some element of truth but there needs to be a balance. Time is infinite, so we need to make a conscious effort to take advantage of the opportunities that we have and although making the most of time matters, it doesn't matter as much as we think, so if we miss something, we must be content and know that every moment isn't a "make or break" moment in time.
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