LIVING WITH TIME

"Time is free, but it’s priceless.
You can’t own it, but you can use it.
You can’t keep it, but you can spend it.
Once you’ve lost it, you can never get it back.”

The above statement recorded by the respected and very successful American author, speaker and businessman, Harvey Mackay, very appropriately describes the real dilemma of Time as he addressed one of the great imponderables of our world.
Time, like so many intangible assets such as “Heat” and “Light”, are commodities that are recognized only by the changes that occur, and can be measured only in relative terms. They are in constant change and cannot be contained or retained. There are no absolute terms to describe Time and our concept of time is based on a comparative evaluation of changing events, whether these be, the moving hand of a clock, the changing effect of a thought or a word, or any other movement perceived or imagined.
Strictly speaking Time does not have a beginning, since there can be no absence of time, and no end, time is eternal. Any attempt to demonstrate this will be as fruitless as trying to demonstrate the existence of “darkness” or of “coldness”, without identifying them as the absence of light or heat. All these phenomena are universal constants that have no boundaries and therefore cannot be conceived nor measured except in relative terms. In scientific terms, there is a certain endless quality to time which is so intricate and unique that even the most inspired and knowledgeable person will not readily comprehend.
However one views this scientific aspect of time, it is abundantly clear nonetheless, that in life, time occupies a most fundamental and profound place. Time is the very foundation of life and absolutely nothing is done nor can be done without its direct influence. St. Augustine of Hippo, the great Christian philosopher and theologian, described this concept most effectively in the following quotation:

What then is time?

If no one asks me, I know what it is.

If I wish to explain it to him who asks,

I do not know."

All of us, singularly and collectively, have our own concept of time which we use to manage our lives and which to a very large extent determines our behavior. This single observation plays the greatest role in the deep chasm that exists between the attitudes, writings, and perceptions of the different cultures and go a long way to explaining why there seems to be no way of resolving them. It often becomes an exercise in futility to try to get these cultures into some degree of uniformity.
In the Western, Anglophile cultures, with its logical , linear and sequential approach, time is generally viewed in quantitative terms, to be measured in units, used to assess progress or movement, and ultimately, provide a direction toward a future. We approach it with an experience-based attitude, focusing on the present with a projection toward a presumed future. The past is but a memory and plays no role in the present time. This approach is often referred as Monochromic, characterized by a rigid, single item commitment with predictable time planning and results. Traditionally these include Great Britain, North America and Japan.
In the Eastern and Latin cultures, with a more generalized, circular and reactive approach, time is considered to be an integral part of life’s continuum, where the past, present and future are essentially intertwined and to some extent, interchangeable. These are often categorized as Polychromic, preferring multiple items without commitment and a higher degree of distractibility. These include the peoples of the Far East, Middle Eastern Arab countries and Latin countries of Europe and South America.
Most people have pre-formed assumptions about the use of time and what constitutes acceptable standards, and often use this as a map to their living. It is no surprise therefore that it constitutes a very powerful influence on all aspects of our life including how we think and project and act and react, often without our conscious knowledge or awareness.
These attitudes are not inherited, but learned through the cultural influences in which they develop. The evidence is compelling that people’s attitudes change in relation to the culture in which they develop and it is not unusual to find that the children of monochromic families quickly acquire the polychromic attitude even within a single generation after relocating. This change often becomes an early source of disagreement and conflict within the families and gives rise to a great deal of misunderstanding.
As a society, we generally do not have the correct emphasis to this very fundamental factor and take for granted that people should be able to accept our behavior without question. Especially in recent times, with the appearance of the “social interactive sites” such as Face book and You tube, the world is suddenly opened up like never before, and only time will tell whether this will result in a better understanding or further deterioration among the world’s cultures.
In the end, we are individually and collectively, left to witness the ultimate changes which will inevitably occur, fully aware that whatever happens, the words of the great Roman Poet, Horace, will always be true:

"Time will bring to light whatever is hidden;

It will cover up and conceal what is now shining in splendor."

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Everything happens to everybody sooner or later;
-If there is time enough.
…..George Bernard Shaw

It was the best of times,
It was the worst of times.
…..Charles Dickens

Time is the great physician
…….. Benjamin Disraeli

Time is the wisest counselor of all.
....... Pericles

We are all prisoners of Time.
We cannot escape it;
We cannot stop it.
…..Author Unknown

Men talk of killing time,
while time quietly kills them.
…….Dion Boucicault

The two most powerful warriors
are patience and time.
…..Leo Tolstoy

Time is the reef upon which
all our frail mystic ships are wrecked"

……. Sir Noel Coward

Time is what we want most,
but what we use worst.
......William Penn

“Time is but a stream I go a-fishing in.
I drink at it: but while I drink I see the sandy bottom,
and detect how shallow it is.
Its thin current slides away, but eternity remains”

……Henry David Thoreau

Time stays long enough
for anyone who will use it.
…..Leonardo da Vinci

Time is money.
…..Benjamin Franklin