Joan Reeves: Time Rolls On

Image by Bronisław Dróżka, Pixabay

Last night when I was talking to my brother Vernon, we were discussing the anomaly we know as Time.

By that I mean how some things that happened years ago are so fresh in the mind that it's as if they happened yesterday.

Here's an example that may be relevant to many of you if you have kids. No matter how old your kids are, I bet it seems as if it were only yesterday when they were born.

Where did all that time go?

Then there are times when you think about something that happened, and you stop to recall when that was. Suddenly, you're shocked to realize it was decades ago.

Here's an example. Our dad passed away in 1996. That was 28 years ago. Twenty-eight years is such a long time—a lifetime. How is that possible? How did so many years roll by?

Perhaps our conversation was simply an illustration of what Nathaniel Hawthorne said, "Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind."

I guess the shadow of time is what gives us those time-effect feelings.

Time has been ever present in the human consciousness for thousands of years. Virgil said, "Time flies; it flies never to be regained."

ALL ABOUT TIME

So many wise people—and witty ones too—have much to say about Time. I thought I'd share some of the wisdom and witticisms with you.

The future starts today, not tomorrow. ―Pope John Paul II

We must use time as a tool, not as a couch. ―John F. Kennedy

Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its brevity. ―Jean de La Bruyère

Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. ―Dale Carnegie

Yesterday is but today's memory, and tomorrow is today's dream. ―Khalil Gibran

For disappearing acts, it’s hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of work. ―Doug Larson

The shorter way to do many things is to only do one thing at a time. ―Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Aside from velcro, time is the most mysterious substance in the universe. You can’t see it or touch it, yet a plumber can charge you upwards of seventy-five dollars per hour for it, without necessarily fixing anything. ―Dave Barry

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

I'll paraphrase what humorist Art Buchwald once said, "Whether it's the best of times or the worst of times, it's the only time you've got." Avoid regrets about things you did or didn't do. Make peace with yourself and use the time left to you to make it the best of times.