Respect for Time, Discipline and Death
Posted on Thursday, 23 February 2017
Respect for Time, Discipline and Death
By Apolinario Villalobos
Practically, everybody is familiar with the
adage, “we cannot turn back the hands of time”. But still, many do not have a
full understanding of what it means and its effect to our life. They may also
appreciate such adage that serves as a reminder, but they are not serious about
it.
Time is the most important factor that can
affect life as the world is at its mercy. Regretting for the lost time is like
crying over spilled milk or precious water. We may cry our eyes dry and punch
our chest with clinched fist while uttering hundreds of mea culpa, but what
have been spilled can no longer be recovered. We cry over lost opportunities
because we were late for appointments. We lost a prospective job because we
were late for the interview. We missed our flight because we did not wake up
early, etc.
Anything that is not respected is
disregarded or taken for granted, and that is what many people do to time most
often. Many forgot that time is used to reckon our physical and mental
development, how we fare as we trudge along the road of life, and in giving us
a chance to change for the better. We always say, “…give me time” which simply
means, “…give me a chance”.
Time is so much a part of our life that many
people become uneasy if they do not glance at a watch every hour of the day.
Everything that we do is controlled by time, from waking up until we go back to
bed. Time controls our job, our meals, even our use of the toilet. We even use
it to warn others about their misdoings by telling them, “how many times did I
tell you….”. Even our pulse and heartbeat are timed to check if we are
physically fit.
If time controls us, discipline compels us
to abide by its ticking, such that husbands must be home before midnight,
employees must be at their post at certain designated time, minors must be home
not later than ten in the evening, meals should be taken at certain times of
the day till evening, medicines should be taken at certain times, etc. Respect
for time and utmost discipline cannot be separated as without the other, our
life and the world will be in a topsy-turvy state.
We should also be thankful to the guy who
discovered time and those who invented gadgets that we need to measure the
extent of our life in this world. Time tells us when we should “depart” from
this world, unless it is cut short by unexpected events resulting to what we
call as as “untimely” death.
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