Why on earth is everyone rushing around to get things done?  Why is time in such short supply for everyone  including me?  There is, and always has been, the same amount of time.  Despite Einstein’s theory that time is relative. No wonder he always looked sad and worried. It is enough to make anyone’s hair stand on end. Considering our devotion to time-saving appliances and all the books and magazine articles about how to save time, there should be more free time now than ever before.

Everyone has a shorter workweek than 50 years ago.  (For those who don’t remember- almost everyone worked on Saturdays back then).With all the rushing around to save time we should have large piles of unused time somewhere to draw on.  What is happening to all that time and why don’t we have any?

What we have to do – I mean absolutely have to do -  is work, rest, household chores, look after relatives, entertain, spend time alone, enjoy a hobby, keep up with current affairs and hopefully attend church services.

Work: Those of us who work spend about eight hours at it each day. Then there are those who don’t work even when they are at work so they save eight – and maybe more -  hours a day.

Rest:  No one rests so at least three hours are saved there. What happened to those halcyon days when people lolled in a hammock on a summer afternoon or took a short nap by the fire on a blustery day?

Household chores:  Everyone does as little housework as possible. Even better close the door on several rooms and clean them occasionally with countless hours saved.

Relatives:  On average we give an hour to family, but not every day so we save that hour most of the time.  Some people manage to save that hour all the time.

Entertaining:  No one entertains every day so we save two or three hours almost every day. Time we could be visiting with friends some people spend in unreal chat rooms sending and receiving messages from invisible friends.  I find that truly frightening and no time is saved.

Time alone:  Some people won’t spend one minute alone.  Add one hour to the pile. Others spend an average of one hour unaccompanied.  Remove one hour from the pile.

Hobby:  The average hobbyist doesn’t spend time on a hobby every single day so those in that category save loads of time and others who are devoted artists spend many hours at it – but an average is about four hours a day.

Current Affairs:  Most of us spend as short a time as possible listening to or reading shocking reports of things going on in countries I never heard of until recently. And it takes up about two joyless hours.

Sleep: Everyone should sleep at least eight hours.  Again, some people sleep more and others less, but eight hours is a good average time to sleep.

Total: The most generous estimate of time spent by workers is 21 hours and the retired population 13 hours.  So what happens to the unused hours? Time wasted is another area demanding investigation. We waste time thinking about the lack of it.  Our thoughts are filled with things that happen at the same time, or at no time, but maybe at times and possibly from time to time.

Then some things have occurred for some time, at no time, or time and time again.  The workplace is fraught with time cards, time clocks, and the ever present time frame, to say nothing of time management and work that is time consuming. We figure out ways to keep time, be on time, kill time and ways not to lose time, serve time or have a bad time.  We pray for a good time and everyone loves once upon a time.

And another thing, I simply do not understand time warp, but think it has great possibilities. It is described as an anomaly, discontinuity or suspension held to occur in the progress of time.  Anyone who has watched Star Trek knows exactly what it is all about. According to Mr. Spock there are small gaps in time located in several different places in the universe where one can slip through and find oneself in another time, or universe.  He knew where they all were and found them fascinating.

Since we haven’t discovered the secret on how to escape the time we are in, I think the only answer is to use time to our best advantage.  Get rid of everything that is not fun or doesn’t work. Stop spending time with people you don’t like.  They probably don’t like you either.
           
Do not waste time trying to keep up with everything that is new.  As soon as you learn what’s new, it isn’t.  Especially in the areas where change is the whole point of it all Such as fashion, restaurants or now even politics.

Really, I would love to talk a great deal more with you all this – but to be perfectly honest I just don’t have the time.