This summer is passing quickly and the time seems to be flying by like never before.  It’s amazing to me how our sense of time changes as a person ages. As a young child the days seemed long and the summers seemed to last forever.  That summer school break always felt like a year to me. During my working lifetime things seemed to drag on and on endlessly except when I was vacationing.  Work was always a definite time slower.

“How did it get so late so soon? Its night before its afternoon. December is here before its June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?”  ~ Dr. Seuss

After retirement I discovered something I never expected.  Time has virtually ceased to be a part of my life.  Shortly after retiring I discarded that timepiece I’d worn on my arm in many variations for five and half decades.  That damn device that I looked at and worried over a thousand times a day.  Most of us never realize what a hold the watch has over us and how obsessed we’ve become in wearing them.  Not only do humans require a watch they won’t hesitate to spend thirty of forty thousand dollars for that extra special Rolex.

I’ve been a rather clumsy person since a very young age and that clumsiness made my ownership of hundreds of watches my curse and Rolex ownership a joke.  It seemed that the more expensive the device I wore the quicker it became damaged or destroyed once it was strapped to my arm. In my twenties I became a Timex owner only because it made wearing a timepiece affordable.

“At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child, or a parent.”  ~ Barbara Bush

I can also remember that feeling I had when I was without a watch. It caused me a great deal of stress and concern and on those days when I wasn’t wearing one I was almost panicky. We were raised to know the time and to live by it in all circumstances. The words "Don’t be late!" and "Be on time!" were the mantra for an entire society. We were raised to always be aware of the time and to live our lives by that watch on our wrist. I remember many occasions when I became pissed off with a partner or spouse who continued to be late for appointments which in turn caused some really nasty arguments.

“Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.”  ~Carl Sandburg

It’s been six years since I stopped wearing a watch but you can never really escape this obsession.  I do relish those weeks that go by and I’m forced to ask my better-half over and over again, “Honey, what day is it?”.  That’s a real form of freedom and a dash of mental health I’ve never had before. Unfortunately for the rest of you the ever vigilant manufacturers of this world continue to create a myriad of products that almost always include a digital clock. The coffee maker, the stove, the TV, the stereo, the VCR, a ball point pen, the computer, the IPad, IPod’s of all sizes, and even on a reproduction of a 1930’s classic radio.  It’s apparent we can’t live without timing ourselves. A clock in every room, next to our beds, and everywhere else. Even my favorite digital camera insists on getting involved by telling me the time on each and every photograph I take.

The more I think about our societies obsession with time the more I realize that my obsession that causes me to fret over that problem is just a time obsession of another sort. As a last thought on Time I refer you to Mr. Steven Wright who puts it all into perspective for me:

“I went to a restaurant that serves ‘breakfast at any time’. So I ordered French Toast during the Renaissance.” 

TIME TO GO!