The Time of My Life
by Valerie Nusbaum
me…
“A stitch in time saves nine.”
—Francis Baily, 1797 (This simply means that repairing a rip or tear in a garment when it occurs, will save more stitches and time later when the hole has gotten bigger.)
“Time and tide wait for no man.”
—St. Marher, 1225 (Pretty much self-explanatory.)
“Dear, it’s time for that old garden shed to be torn down and hauled away. Randy? Are you listening to me? Where are you hiding?”
—Valerie Nusbaum, yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that. (Again, this is self-explanatory, and I’m guessing that a lot of you can identify with it.)
Time is something that we never seem to have enough of. Older people fear it’s running out, while young people continue to unashamedly waste it. We have it on our hands and on our side and we kill it. Time marches on and it stands still. It is of the essence, and it is money.
One minute is sixty seconds of time, but this same minute can seem like a lifetime or be as fleeting as the blink of an eye. When I’m walking on the treadmill, the first minute always goes by quickly, but the remainder minutes drag on and on. If I’m reading a good book or spending time with friends, an hour —sixty entire minutes—can pass in a heartbeat. It really is true that time flies when I’m having fun, and, evidently, I do not think walking on the treadmill is fun.
Sixty seconds may not seem like much time, but it’s amazing how much stuff I can accomplish while my morning hot tea water is heating in the microwave. Conversely, if I jump up during a commercial break while I’m watching television, those few minutes are barely long enough to get to the bathroom and back.
We use time to set records, to measure accomplishments, and we use it as a deadline. We enjoy the good times and persevere through the bad ones.
Some of the greatest minds of all time have concentrated their efforts on time travels. Some would go back in time to change events, while others would journey to the future to see if the things we are doing in the present are right or wrong.
Would you go back in time if you could? I assume that in doing so, any changes we make or things we do differently would affect our present lives. I always say that if I could do it over again, I’d take a different route with my education and career choices. However, if I had done those things differently, I probably wouldn’t have met Randy, nor had some of the wonderful experiences I’ve had. I wouldn’t have the life I have today. If my mother could go back in time and change her life, I might not be sitting here at all. It’s a lot to consider. Time travel is very confusing to me, and it takes way too much time to think about it.
Boy George, Cyndi Lauper, Jim Croce, and Mick Jagger have all sung about time. Sorry. I don’t have any current references. I only listen to the oldies channels on XM radio. I’m sure that Taylor Swift or Kanye West have also written or sung songs about time. My point is that time is something we all share.
A lot of us are fond of saying that there aren’t enough hours in a day, but, in truth, we know that the twenty-four hours in each day is a constant and this will never change. We need to change our expectations and stop trying to cram too much into one day. How many of us say every year that we’re not ready for Christmas? Do we forget that Christmas rolls around on December 25 every single year? I’m going to make a real effort to lower my expectations about what I can accomplish in a given time frame. Please remind me that I wrote these words when I’m sitting up at 1:00 a.m. on Christmas morning wrapping gifts, and I’m crying because I can’t get it all finished.
On a happy note, our garden shed was torn down in a timely fashion. Even though it was a difficult job, there was very little cursing and swearing, because Brooke came over to help. Randy informed me that it took two entire days (48 hours or 2,880 minutes) to complete the job, but it was worth it. The yard is looking better, and we have space for a small vegetable garden, plus Randy didn’t find any snakes underneath the old building.
In closing, I’m sending a big “Thank You” to Linda Myers for sending me the photo of Boardwalk Elvis. It was great to see that he’s alive and well and, well, timeless.
Happy Independence Day to all! Have a great time!
