Passing of Time

Word of the Day – Writing Exercise (04/23)

Looking askance at the clock. Time is the enemy of both the young and the old. The young children protest because it moves not fast enough. Watching as it ticks down for recess, the end of the school day, the arrival of the weekend, and of summer. Constantly getting in the way of their play. They wait for junior high, for their crush to text back, for the prom, to drive, to graduate, and finally get away from home. The speed at which it moves seems so unbearably slow.

Young adults have surpassed the time they waited for to come but interestingly still hold hate for the clock. College classes lag on, work shifts seem too long, weekends still are miles apart, and payday seems forever away. Saving for dreams, one dollar takes an eternity to double.

Middle age arrives with a jolt. All of a sudden newscasters seem young and the adults from your childhood tv series are the same age as you now. Time snuck up on you somehow. You asked it to go and now you want it to slow. Watching with terror your future reality as your parents struggle with becoming feeble. Contradictions arise as you chase future happiness yet want to stay in today. Retirement is still too far away. Yet the pains of old age become more real day by day as grey hair and wrinkles sprinkle your face.

Old age sets in. Time is still not your friend. Now too fast as each day passes with a blink of an eye. Time with your loved ones is never enough. Incredulity that your life may be nearing an end. Doctors become the hope of reliving your youth. Hoping that each surgery may return some of that vigor. Still pushing time forward unknowingly, unhappy in now, not knowing the future you want has passed. Regret not being more grateful for each ache-free year. Secretly scared that time may come calling.

Time whether you wish to go or to stay, it makes its own way. Perception is the only thing to control. Psychology in how to keep it, change your routine. Making each day new and unseen will perceive to slow it down a little. Try less to escape, turn the tv off while awake, and be grateful for each passing moment. Return faster from each mental masturbation of future happiness to find it in front of you.

Words of the day:

• Askance means “with disapproval or distrust” or “with a side-glance.”
• Feeble implies that someone is inferior, or lacks the ability or desire to do things above and beyond being too physically weak