Nothing But Time...
There used to be an old saying we batted about in one of the churches I attended years ago...went like this:
"The harder I try, the behinder I get".
Now you have to remember that "behinder" is not a VALID word, but we used it (and the saying) to typify much of today's world.
I recently spoke about the "lack of time" people SEEM to enjoy these days...and the folly connected with that belief.
Time is relativistic...and if Einstein were here, he'd "splain" it to all of us.
So, unless you are going close to the speed of light, time is a CONSTANT...it never varies, changes, or otherwise is affected by anything we do, or the number of things we attempt to cram into it.
Besides, who the hell would WANT a 27 hour day?
People would probably still get paid for a 40 hour work week.
Many would waste those 3 additional hours.
And think about a 13 month year...!
That is a scary prospect.
Yet, there are those instances where time seems to "bend"...and by that, I mean slow down OR speed the hell up.
So many people who have been involved in car accidents (yours truly included) seem to recall the events in SLOW-MOTION...like some sort of scene out of a Wachowsky brothers' movie....like THE MATRIX! You remember the scene where NEO dodges the bullets...and we can see the pressure waves from the rounds passing all around him.
Yeah...kinda like that.
And as we get older, time seems to speed up...like we're running out of time.
I prefer to think that as we age, we become MORE AWARE of the precious aspect OF time itself.
Every one of us reaches a point in our lives, where we KNOW we have more years BEHIND us, than in front of us...
Ah...the wonderfulness of mortality, hmm?
Now that doesn't mean we dwell on the apparent negativity of our finite existence, but rather acknowledge the fact that none of us are Duncan MacLeod, the Highlander, and that none of us are immortal. Come to think of it, immortality has it's own problems.
Imagine the grief you feel when a loved one departs from this life....then multiply that by several HUNDRED.
That's what living for a millennia (or longer) would entail...and that's the "up side".
Now, I said all that to say this...
When it comes to time, haste will ALWAYS make waste.
Doesn't matter if it's a recipe for dinner, a bridge that's been recently constructed, a battle plan in a foreign land, or doing things about the house.
Nothing comes of a job done in haste.
That dinner will be a disaster (Anyone for Pizza Hut?), that bridge will collapse, the battle will cost more lives than imagined, and that door that needed repair NOW needs outright replacing.
One place that haste makes waste in DRIVING.
And we see the road rage around us as a perfect example.
When we go from *A* to *B*, getting there quicker won't make a bit of difference (unless you're late, which is a whole other issue, slowpoke). Your destination will STILL be right where it's supposed to be (unless it's in an earthquake-ridden part of California) whether you drive the limit, or run the risk of being "radared" (from Bob's lexicon) into a nice, healthy speeding ticket.
Besides, how many accidents have occurred while people were going slower, anyway?
A helluva lot FEWER than those at higher speeds.
Also, driving faster burns up fuel...(well, DUH, Bob). So, unless you have a miniature nuclear FUSION reactor (like Doc Brown's DeLorean) in the trunk of the old family getaway-mobile, that dog just ain't gonna hunt for 'ya.
Now, how many times have you tried to "cut corners" around the house with some project, and have it turn into one of those "Royal Clusterf$cks", hmm?
Yeah, you should have slapped on a coat of PRIMER before painting...or maybe scraping or sanding would have made the paint you used last a bit more than ONE SEASON...'ya think?
And how many people put on ONLY TWO LUGNUTS when changing a tire...to save time?
No one with more than a handful of brain cells, that's who.
That's why we're becoming experts at...(wait for it)....MULTITASKING.
Better to do THREE things with mediocrity than ONE thing well (or a lot of things lousy), right?
Blame that on our techocratic (Bob's lexicon strikes again) environment.
Sorry, but I'm gonna stay "old school" here.
Slow and steady wins the race...(said the tortoise to the hare).
And never start something you don't plan to finish.
(Dad was great with driving that one home)
Better to take your time, do something correctly, than to spit and slap something together, and make it try to pass for something it's not.
Used to be that way in America.
Used to be a time where WE made quality goods...today, not so much.
But when it comes to OUR LIVES, we can still play it the AMERICAN WAY.
We can STILL produce a "quality product".
We can take the time (relative as it will always be) to make our life as meaningful as we can, with what time we have at our disposal.
I suppose many will wonder "Can I find the time to do that?"
MAKE the time (as Mom used to say).
You just might get to like it.
Stay safe out there, America.