Wow! This quote is frighteningly true. We rush through our weeks, wish away our days, curse our boredom, but then inevitably wonder where the time went when we find ourselves older than we'd like to be.
Part of the problem is our inability as humans to enjoy the precious present moment and to be satisfied with what we have. All of our lives we, as well as our parents, wished us into the future. When we were born, our parents began wishing we could crawl, then walk, then talk. That doesn't necessarily imply that they weren't enjoying our cooing or immobility, but they wanted more and were wishing away time for it to happen.
When we became small children we wished we were big enough to ride the Ferris wheel or to walk in the deep end of the pool- unconsciously hoping time would speed up. And then we became teenagers who wished we were old enough to drive. When we could drive, we wished we could drink legally. When we could drink legally, we wished we were finished school. When we finished school, we wished we had better jobs. When we got better jobs, we wished we had a family. You get the idea.
We have spent our entire lives wishing away time to reach a point where we are at a better place. I would venture to say that once we reach that place, we start to yearn for some of that time back. I do. I look at my responsibilities now and for a split second miss being a kid with no responsibilities, no sense of time, and the naiveness that allows you to be void of worry and love life. I know that my mom sometimes wishes she were my age again, when she had kids to take care of and a family to do things for because it was in that time that she felt purpose. She is enjoying her life but missing the younger days.
The other part of the problem which this quote brings to light is that we spend so much time trying to find something to do with our time that we waste away our time. Again, we are not content with what we have and need more. I believe this comes partly from our need to be stimulated 24/7. In older days, people could sit around a fire and talk, sing, and sit in silence yet still be amused. This day in age, from babies we are given things to stimulate us. We are sat in front of the TV, shown the joys of the internet, and given gadgets to play with. I am not saying these stimulants are negative, but only that we are continuously being entertained. Because of this fact, we are not happy just sitting in silence (unless of course we are stressed to the max and need a little time away), or even just sitting outside and watching the trees blow in the breeze. These activities are considered boring to most, even our children. We do things all the while hoping they would just be done and over with so that we could get to the next thing. When you think about how many times you do this in a day, it's overwhelming and terrible to say the least.
All the while, we are trying to find something more stimulating to do and something that is better than what we did before, wishing away time while trying not to age.
Does anyone see the irony in all of this?
The moments we are given cannot be retrieved. You can't get them back. This everyone knows. But the other part is that we can't trick ourselves into thinking that we are cherishing our time when in reality we are wishing it away while planning stimulation for the future.
Inevitably we will get old, and inevitably we will wish back the moments we are in right now. At some point in life we will want to be right where we are today. At that point, we won't be able to get his moment back. So, live you're life knowing that, that at one point you will wish this time back, and that the only way to avoid doing that is to cherish and revel in this moment regardless of its level of enjoyment.
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