the true value of time
I've been subscribed to Jame Clear's - author of Atomic Habits - newsletter for a few months now, and every now and then I read a paragraph or quote that strikes a chord and really sticks with me. I'm going to share my thoughts on one of them in this post.
A quote that I read in a recent post written by poet and novelist Sylvia Plath reminds us that choosing a path means ignoring the rest, but not choosing means squandering them all:
"I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet." Source: The Bell Jar
I really love the message of this quote. I have personally struggled with the fact that I will not be able to achieve absolutely everything that I want to do within my lifetime. All of us will come to an end, whether we like it or not. The best thing we can do is get comfortable with that and focus on a few things rather than spreading ourselves too thin because we're afraid of missing out on opportunity.
It is impossible to do so simply because all of us have a limited amount of time on this earth, and it is up to us to choose how we want to spend that time.
In the past, I've always thought that since we only have a finite amount of time to use, that time was the most important resource in our lives. I remember trying to optimise my schedule as much as possible to get the most "return" out of the use of my time. I remember thinking that we should all be living day-to-day with the highest efficiency possible so that no time is wasted and that anyone who doesn't do so is throwing away their time.
Since then, I've come to realise that the amount of time you possess is not the most important thing in life.
It is the memories that you make with your loved ones, the relationships you foster when meeting new people, the happiness you are able to give others, and the sadness you share when mourning a loss. In my opinion, it is these things that are worth infinitely more than having more time.
I used to be disappointed in myself when I would stay up late playing games with friends or when I would spend a whole weekend binge-watching a show because it felt like I was wasting time. But now I would gladly throw away a whole year or two if it meant I got to make more memories with my parents while they were still alive.
It is because life is finite that it is precious, and we should cherish every waking moment.
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