The Clock is Ticking

How much do we value time? Do we just see it as a determinant if it is day or night, as a signal for the beginning and end of seasons, or as a reminder of significant events? What do we do with it? Some may say that they do everything they can with the time they have whether it is with work or with leisure. Others use time to bum around and to snuggle contentedly under the sheets. Such is not the case for Henry Bemis, the protagonist in the Twilight Zone episode.

Mr. Bemis valued books more than anything in the world. In the occurrence of a sudden explosion that left him as the only person alive with everything he needs to survive all throughout his lifetime, he could not have asked for anything more. He finally saw this as an opportunity to read every book he could possibly lay his hands on. Unfortunately this was short lived as Mr. Bemis has suffered a misfortune when his glasses broke forever preventing him from doing what he treasured most, reading.  

This episode made me think about what I would do with time if I had all the time in world. I thought of traveling, reading novels and seminal works of esteemed thinkers, playing the piano, watching a lot of movies, studying different fields, and spending time with the people I love. Looking at this list made me realize that I wanted to do a lot of things yet time and other activities constrained me from doing so. Suddenly anything that would enable me to make up for lost time seemed so appealing.

Mr. Bemis’ story taught me two things technology and life. We live in a world where technological advancement is so fast that we try to keep up with it without realizing what we are leaving behind. We must welcome progress yet not lose sight of what we have now. We must learn to prioritize things that are most important to us because it is not true that we have all the time in the world. We must learn to live in the moment. The clock is ticking.