Time, A faithful “frenemy”

As I packed my luggage to step out of the house to high school as a boarder some decades ago, I remember like yesterday the words of my father when he called me to his room to give his last advice after an extensive counselling session the previous night. He said, “Ernest, your journey to life begins today. This phase is just three years and it will end in a blink of an eye. Make every moment count”.

Like Chris Gardner (played by Will Smith) in the movie “The Pursuit of Happiness”, I felt so charged to succeed irrespective of the impending obstacle. Upon reaching Prempeh College, it was quite obvious everyone was advised by either the mother, father or even both before coming.

The exuberance, determination and zeal to succeed was literally so glaring on the faces of every new student. Once classes started, the vim with which we all trooped to class was both overwhelming and intimidating. There are times you look at someone, pause and ask yourself, “What else did his father tell him that mine didn’t?”

Little did I know this attitude was however fleeting. Over time, people who were first to every class now had to be chased to come to the very class they used to run to in the early days. It took those who carried in their system the irredeemable nature of time to succeed and proceed to the tertiary level.

If there be any virtue that goes beyond the tenets and laws of any religion, if there be any asset that transcends the geographical borders of any country, if there is any commodity that is expensive irrespective of currency and if there be any resource that is important to people of all ages, then undoubtedly it is time. Every religion in their manuals touches on its efficient use. Corporate entities spend colossal sum of money to train employees on labor-saving mechanisms all in the name of redeeming time.

Motivational speakers have over and over again expounded theories as to how this scarce but abundant gift of nature can be put to effective use. Despite the extensive expose on time, enough evidence abound all around us that most people still do not know the worth and value of time. Just as William Penn once said “Time is what we want most, but we use worst”.

In all my short life on this earth, I have never met a single individual who has been bold enough to declare that he/she has enough time for every single activity. As a matter of fact the phrase “I don’t have time” has become part of our everyday lexicons. Everyone feels time is not a best friend. Ask the richest man on earth in the USA or the poorest man somewhere in South America or Africa, they all will tell you “Time is running out on them”.

However the fundamental question is why are some people able to efficiently manage this commodity which is the only God-given common gift to all men and others are unable to? I do not posit to know all theories that can lead to answering to this question. However I can confidently say the answer to this question goes beyond education, race, geographical location and even financial status. Without any doubt or equivocation, I can boldly say the only difference between successful managers of time and the group on the other side is the consciousness of the transient nature of time.

Two groups of people exist when it comes to management of time. One group acknowledges that time is short and will do anything to use it efficiently. The other however knows time is short but subconsciously behave like they have enough time. There is a huge disconnect between the notion of scarcity of time and the act to redeem it. There has to be a deliberate effort to invest in the next second of your life. Every one of us should be driven by the fact that a common man is not concerned by the passage of time. It takes a prudent, honorable and talented man to invest in his time. As Charles Darwin once said, “A man who dares to waste one hour of life has not discovered the value of life”.

If you have a dream, pursue it. Do not let it remain in your imaginative world. The time is now to set realistic goals and go after them. Do not be fooled by the number of days on the calendar. There is no need to postpone that idea of yours. If you are comfortable with your life and you think your children will be too, then you can afford to play with time. If you want to give the next generation something better than you had, start thinking of using time prudently. Invest in the next second, which will translate to minutes, then hours, then days, weeks, months, years, then voila! Your entire life will be greater and better.

As usual, the year has begun with the numerous declarations of the year’s descriptions depicting our expectation of how the year should be. My year of greatness, my year of conquest, my year of improvement, my year of this, my year of that, are being conspicuously displayed all over social media platforms not only by religious fanatics but by individuals who pledge no allegiance to any Supreme being. Beneath all these beautifully crafted phrases lies one indispensable tool or resource which will see to the fruition of whatever year you want to see – efficient use of time. Once you have themed your year, get to work to translate that tag from a mere rhetoric to a reality. Without realizing how crucial the transient state of time is to the success of your year, this theme will merely make sense on the pews of our churches, the mats of our mosques or probably just a figment of your imagination.

“Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much can be done if we are always doing”, Thomas Jefferson once said. It will amaze you what you can achieve if only you have the consciousness that time is just but a transient asset. This asset can be your best friend if you respect it as your greatest resource on earth. However it can be your worst enemy if you fail to accept that it is the only capital you need in the business of life.

If you value yourself, you will value time.