By Shazad
“All I know time is a valuable thing
Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings
Watch it count down to the end of the day, the clock ticks life away.”
‘In the End’, Song by Linkin Park
It’s early morning, about an hour before sunrise, and I am offering my pre-dawn prayers as I listen to the clock ticking in my home office. I am reciting various prayers in Arabic and also appreciating how special this moment is as it merges into the next. One second at a time. The quiet and steady ticking of my wall clock seems to grow louder as I get older, and I believe I know why.
When we are younger, we have a vague sense of time and the clock is mostly a nuisance that reminds us things like it’s time to go to school, or it’s time to eat lunch, or the dreaded one, bedtime! We mostly don’t hear or just plain ignore the ticking clocks at home, at school, and anywhere else that annoying mechanical sound happens to be. We are full of energy, dreams, and time!
As we grow older, we realize there are some limits to how much we can enjoy our days. How often can we sleep in, and what is it like to trade time for money? I’m talking about getting a job, earning money, and then spending it all just before the next pay cheque hits the bank. It’s simply another game involving time, our efforts, and the world we live in. The clock seems louder, constantly reminding us when lunch breaks end and it’s time to finish that assignment, or the boss will be all over us about an incomplete project.
As mature adults with families, we really start to notice that annoying hum or buzz of every clock in the room. It’s as if they are following us around! Some produce a whirring sound, and others constantly beep as seconds march forward in a seemingly endless flow of tiny soldiers. It’s around this time that we realize some important things, like I’m middle-aged and I have serious responsibilities with people relying on me every day to do the right thing at the right time! Suddenly, time is very front and centre in our minds, and we think about it more than ever before. Things like investing for retirement, life insurance, and leaving a legacy come to mind. We think about how much time remains before our parents and other elders pass away. We imagine how great our youth was, with so much time and energy. We even notice our kids getting bigger, older, smarter, and moving a little farther away from us as they create their own journey through time. It’s all becoming very tangible and visceral. Time is no longer just a vague concept or a nice idea. It’s a very key dimension of our existence and the measure of everything we hold dear, because TIME is the only thing we can’t create more of! TIME is literally passing by as you read this and absorb the message of this post.
As I finished my early morning prayers, I turned my face to the right and left and sent blessings of Peace and God’s Mercy in both directions. I remain sitting and express gratitude for this gift of understanding, awareness, and most importantly, TIME! Meanwhile, the constant ticking of my clock is heard in the background, and the hint of a new dawn begins to appear outside my window. I cherish this moment as one of many I’ve had in the early morning hours, and I start a new day because it’s about time!
Have An Awesome Day!
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