Get set go! 3.. 2.. 1..! Countdown begins as the tick-ticking turns more furious and lo! Time’s up!!!

“Time & Tide” wait for none; “Time is money”; “Time lost is lost forever” are all true, but when was the last time when you befriended time, instead of blaming time? Befriending Time? Yes, you heard that right!!

We often rebuke time, stating it to be that one thing, which simply ‘rushes out and blows away’, leaving no moment to grab it. More often than not, somehow, not many seem to walk shoulder-to-shoulder, or in sync with time, which is why, are often found cribbing over scarcity of time.

But Rivers flow in their own paths, planets revolve around the sun and rotate around themselves in their respective orbits, flowers bloom when the pedicels are all set for a bloom, spiders keep knitting their webs despite seeing a thousand devastations & yet, none of them fear time. In fact, none of these even have wrists to accommodate wristwatches, and yet accomplish their duties dutifully. Then what is it that makes us complain about the Time?

We occupy our minds thinking and believing that – playing a ‘blame game’ with time can save us from accepting our own mistakes and can help us mask our shortcomings, by letting it serve as a great excuse. An immediate answer for – ‘Why wasn’t an XYZ task completed on time?’ being “No time, shortage of time, couldn’t find time, and so on and so forth...” are some of the readymade answers, always lodged at the tip of our tongue.

But what we fail to understand is, that the time gifts each of us with sufficient time, in order to timeline our activities and lead our lives happily in a timely-bound manner.

If one aspires to undertake and accomplish multiple tasks without having to miss out upon any one or anything, she/he can verily do it. This has also been proved by our country’s finest actress Priyanka Chopra, as she rightly mentioned in one of her interviews that – one of her movies was scheduled for its premier show, to be held at the Berlin Film Festival, and at the same time, for the very first time, she was also invited to attend the Grammy Awards in LA. Both the exciting events were scheduled to take place with only a day’s gap between the two and with both the venues situated continents apart, in different time zones under varying meteorological conditions. Everybody around said – ‘either this OR that’ but she wanted ‘this AND that’ and guess what happened? – she planned for wise connectivity starting from Mumbai to London, London to Berlin, Berlin to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to LA, and LA to Mumbai and she participated in both the events successfully in person. This is called ‘Time management’.

One may perhaps classify one’s priorities by grouping them under ‘Urgent’, ‘Moderate’ & ‘Least important’ categories and thereby carry out the agendas appropriately one after the other, with one at a time; or could set a time-table for oneself, by allotting specific time for specific activity per day with different activities simultaneously, till the completion of the activity/activities assigned. That is to say – either devote time for one task one day, followed by a different task, the next day, provided the previous task is complete; or take up a couple of tasks every day and keep working on all of them, little by little every single day, with/without completing any of them on the same day, rather, consuming some time out and eventually completing on the days that follow the same.

Unfortunately, what people do these days is – ‘let me enjoy first and then do everything all at once at the fag end’ or ‘let me do everything all at once, and then enjoy at the fag end’. Though the latter may seem to work out, yet both are situated poles apart, far off from being an organic, healthy & an organized form of performance, because in both cases, one encounters a piled-up target/s, adhering to ‘driving oneself to an early grave!’

Therefore, things done at the right pace at the right time in the right flow and with the right approach alone dovetail with the right result, and not vice-versa.

Also true is that – a trend of ‘workaholism’ is found circulating around the corner these days, where people get so much so addicted to work, that they eventually end up becoming extreme workaholics! It doesn’t mean to connote that considering ‘work or working as a passion’ is any wrong, instead, ‘Work is Worship’. But we also know that worships are done together, along with the inclusion of families, friends, societies, and masses. This means to say that adequate breaks and rejuvenations become pivotal, where spending some quality time with the loved ones, holds of utmost importance. This relaxation ignites for a new energy and generates a fresh outlook, which in turn enhances one’s productivity, efficiently. 

Alexander built some of the largest empires in ancient times but understanding the value of time, he too said this to his court men when he laid on his death-bed that – “If there’s anybody who can lend me even a single breath, I promise to give him half of my kingdom as compensation, because, in a bid to conquer Nations & amass wealth, I squandered precious time and health, and I now realize that I cannot stave off death for a single moment too, even with all my wealth, even with all my wealth!!!”

Next category comprises of those ones who wait for a right time for a long time, and are left behind waiting for the right time, at the cost of blurring-out the opportunities that appeared at that time. It seems that 1074 pictures every second, 64440 pictures every 60 seconds and almost 4 million images every hour, are uploaded on Instagram. When social media itself waits for nobody, what makes you wait for that right time?

Please understand that ‘patiently waiting for the time to come, after/with a prolonged hard-work; and wasting the precious time foolishly, calling it patience’ are not the same. 

Let’s say, our bank accounts are credited with Rs.86,400 per day every day, which means 25,92,000 Rupees per month. Total Jackpot, isn’t it? Now, the only condition is, that we have to compulsorily use this entire amount every day. So, it’s up to us, as to how we’d like to use every single penny per day. But it does come with a pre-condition and a huge disclaimer attached, stating – ‘balance left per day is not carried for the next day’ i.e. to say, that whatever, and however you spend every single rupee per day is only for that day and the balance amount left, will be lost. You can NOT carry forward that day’s earnings for the next consecutive day! So, what would we all look for, under such circumstance? Each of us would try hard to make use of that money judiciously, leaving not a single paisa too, to get wasted. Basically, this is the bank account which we all do have in our lives practically, and it is rightly called the ‘Bank account of Time’. Yes, my friends! The “ultimate Bank account of Time”. Every day you are credited with 86,400 seconds and the entire 86,400 secs are to be used in 24 hours itself. And in case, not used properly or are wasted, these 86,400 seconds are destined to not return back and will be lost forever! Hence, whenever you waste time or even think of wasting time, do remember this one thing that – Time lost, will never return back, ever again. You may perhaps find the same date and day, every month, but not with the same year, for sure. Thus, “Waste your time you should Never, for Time once gone, is gone Forever, is gone Forever; you will find it Never, you will find it Never!”

This reminds me of an incredible quote pinned on an IMA (Indian Military Academy) board which says – “It takes 43 muscles to frown, 17 to smile and only 03 for a proper Trigger Squeeze”. So, squeeze up your traits of sloth and laziness and enhance your robustness through proper planning and execution of time, because ‘The Sea is the same for all. But some find Pearls, some find Fishes and some just find their feet Wet’!

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