Time, Thou Art A Fickle Thing

"You may delay, but time will not."
-Benjamin Franklin



It's funny how single events can bring a person to focus on realities preferably forgotten. Last Thursday I experienced one such event when I found out my boyfriend will be leaving for his two year mission at the beginning of September. Strangely enough, accepting his leaving was easier than I had anticipated-- perhaps because I knew in advance that it was definitely going to happen. The real dagger came when that date was read. My mind experienced something like the rushed focus to a close-up shot often used in dramatic movie scenes as my mind raced through time and my heart experienced a jolting smack into an emotional brick wall as that valuable time came to an unexpected halt. That wall has left me with quite the mark.

Consequently, I have become very aware of time. Tomorrow it will have been a week. And as of today, I have six more to go. I would that I could delay it, but as Mr. Franklin said, "time will not." Heck, I would even take being able to speed it up a couple years. Oh, time, thou art a fickle thing.

Which brings me to some additional thoughts. Lately I've considered some options I have to help me out of that oh-so-glorious experience we all have from time to time of being at a stand still in life. I was discussing my concerns with a very wise friend last week, who shared some profound advice. A man whom I greatly admire states it well:

The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.
(C. S. Lewis)

It's a bit sad, but it's true. The good news, I suppose, is that we have the choice of governing our time how we will.