It cost me a lot
My chain and my watch
They say Time is money but really it’s not
If we ever go broke girl then time is all we got
And you can’t make that back no you can’t make that back
So let’s ball while we here, let’s ball while we here
Like ain’t no tomorrow, like ain’t no next year
J. Cole – Mr. Nice Watch
Time is money, right? Yes and no.
Your relationships with family, friends and loved ones cost you a lot of money because you spend too much time with them, right? Time is money after all.
Yes and no.
We see a lot online about money. We see a lot about money walking down the street. Everywhere we look, people are either trying to take our money or they are trying to make money. Everywhere we look, there is some sort of financial transaction. “Cash rules everything around me”, right? That is only what’s apparent.
Since the beginning of time, mankind has consistently sought one thing – more time, be it through trials of reanimation, healthcare, medicine or trying to physically turn back time. We have been to the moon. We have built submarines that can reach the floor of the deepest trenches. We have sent man-made objects to the edge of the solar system and beyond.
We have built telescopes that can see stars and galaxies billions of light-years away many of which have probably already died by the time their light reached us. We’ve broken the sound barrier multiple times over. We’ve created high-impact atomic collisions near the speed of light. Yet we haven’t managed to turn back time. Mankind has consistently failed to turn back time and will continue to do so.
Time is the only thing that can’t be stopped, stored, changed, manipulated, re-earned, turned back or forward. Time feels slow when in isolation, discomfort or suffering, and extremely fast when having a good time. Have you ever looked back after a good day, month or year and thought, “Damn, that went by quick”? Such is life.
Every time I write a post about any given subject area, there is one thing I take notice of more and more – balance. I realize that as humans, we lack balance. We are constantly trying to make money and fail to make time. We are constantly trying to keep ourselves busy and fail to appreciate freedom. We are constantly in a state of imbalance. We need to make money, but we also need to appreciate time.
Time has been something that has disrespected me lately. It just passes. It doesn’t wait, it doesn’t extend, it doesn’t pause and it doesn’t turn back. There is only so much “living in the moment” I can do, and there is a lot of work that I need to do, but I must grow to learn how to balance the scales.
Spending time with those closest, time alone to reflect and work on the inner state and time to hustle for a better tomorrow. Every moment can and should be appreciated because it is an overall package. I’m not the man I am for spending time with those around me, or for purely being in a meditative state or for working non-stop. I am who I am because of all the above, and more.
The only difference, however, is that everything in life can – realistically – be obtained if lost – such as money. Time, on the other hand, is something that will never come back. The 90s are gone forever. The 2000s are gone forever. School days, college days and our days of childhood are gone forever. And the cycle will repeat. But memories, good times and experiences will exist for as long as we do.
So, what if we go broke? Don’t we have something else to appreciate other than money? Don’t we have the people we love? Don’t we have ourselves? Don’t we have a connection with The Almighty? Don’t we have our health? Don’t we have our intellect? Don’t we have things money can never buy? If we ever go broke then time is all we got. We can never make it back.
I reflect. I reflect and I detect that my focus is often blurred. Sometimes the society we live in and the factors that influence us auto-focus on the wrong things a little too much. A camera lens can be made to focus on anything, you can blur out the foreground or the background. Both shots can look amazing. A little bit of both. Balance.
Time has been passing me by lately, which has taught me that it is the most valuable thing I – we – possess. If time is the only thing that we can’t guarantee ourselves, what could ever be more valuable?
#HoodIntellectuals
