Something very strange is happening to time. It's disappearing.
The faster we move through our space-age paced lives, the less time we have.
Where is Albert Einstein when you need him? His Theory of Relativity posited that as one approximates the speed of light, which we common folk do nearly every waking minute of the day, time slows down, people age less, and other such wonderful phenomenon phenom.. Of course, as the name of his theory says, this is all 'relative.'
I think Albert has it all wrong. We're so very busy that our lives are passing by quicker, not slower. We have less time, it seems, to do anything.
It's still another of life's million ironies. We have so many supposed labor and time saving devices that we can't accomplish what we need to each day and certainly can't handle anything new.
I moved to Palm Coast from the super-charged Washington, DC, area, so my life would be simpler and less insane.
I think I miscalculated.
True, traffic and congestion here are non-existent compared to the Nation's Capital, but the everyday run-around is just as severe.
If we have alternatives to make our lives marginally or dramatically less hectic, we don't have the opportunity to reflect upon them.
This sounds oddly reminiscent of the age-old draining the swamp or fighting the alligator challenge.
Sometimes it seems easier or more comfortable to merely keep up with the daily craziness than it is to expend the mental and temporal effort to find a better way.
Of course, that just perpetuates our fatigue and frustration and does nothing for the quality of our lives. But such is the human condition. Few are disciplined enough to seek and effect real change.
It's been said that the definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing while expecting a different result.
If that's true, most of us are out of our minds because we can't see our way clear of getting out from under all of life's daily chores and activities. We can't seem to get our lives on track, know what's truly important, and award time for these projects.
It's all about priorities. Despite how we feel, there are still 86,400 seconds in each day, 31 million yearly, and over two billion in a lifetime.
That's a lot of time. How do you spend it?
The question isn't can you control your time -- your life. The question is 'will' you?
The good news is that people are doing that right now. For example, when I telephone many of you, you don't return my call. You've obviously decided that doing anything else is a better use of time than taking with me.
The bad news is that some are still stuck in the proverbial time rut. And it doesn't matter what you say to these folks, they simply won't listen.
It's unfortunate, of course, because such mile-a-minute living really isn't living at all. We're told to stop and smell the roses but we're traveling so fast that we don't even them notice them by the roadside of life in the first place.
I'd love to keep discussing this but I got to run. I have places to do, people to see, things to do.
I simply don't have the time now to finish this colum
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Fred W. Apelquist, III, M.Ed.
Approximately 550 words.
(c) 1999