Adulting 3 - It’s About Time:

“Fugit Inreparabile Tempus” - It Escapes, Irretrievable Time" - Virgil, The Georgics.

Time truly is one of the only really finite resources. We all lose & gain so much during our life in so many ways.  For example I can’t easily count how many jobs I have had or how many I have lost.  By the last count though I'm already on my fifth career change having switched paths on so many occasions before. 

You can’t delay it, slow it, stop it, pause it, start again or buy it back.

Ok, so far so obvious, get to the point.

A lot of the time the idiom “Tempus Fugit” seems to be employed to exhort us not to waste our time, but to use it productively.  The internet and the written press is full of “influencers” and self-appointed gurus. They all seem to have a good idea about the best ways for us to spend our time, how we can use it better or how lazy we're being by not using it as they say we should be. They are also usually selling something. We all appear to have our consumerist values embedded in us, along with the indoctrination of needing to work to pay for it all.

Now that we all have so much more time on our hands, more time to think and are being forced to do so much less than normal. We all seem to be reflecting on how we spend our time whether we realise it or not.  

Unusually for me in advance of writing this I actually did some research. I asked a group of friends two questions:

1. What are not missing at the moment

2. What are you missing most at the moment?

My totally unscientific poll shows that no-one is missing the commute to work or the School run. Office workers don't appear to be missing the office much. No-one is missing the crowded roads or shops either.

People seem to be united in missing the social aspects of life.  Being with friends. hugs, gigs, drinks, bbqs, football matches, the  simplicity of being able to go for a long bike ride with friends. People who have a faith are missing their churches or their places of worship. We're all missing family in very big ways. People are even missing the ability to work normally, missing the work relationships that they have and job satisfaction. While others are simply missing the ability to travel or seek solitude.

For myself, given that our time on this planet is limited & we don’t know when our turn will be ended my question is this:

What is the wisest way to spend our time?

Now that we have been temporarily suspended from the rat-race & the affluence trap has been sprung, just look at what we are all really missing. Look at what actually seems important.

Time is flying for all of us, so lets try to waste it wisely.