Printed in the Spring 2024 issue of Quest magazine.
Citation: Colon, Michael "The Beautiful Nature of Time" Quest 112:2, pg 34-35
By Michael Colon
The clock’s ticking sound plays the melody we all dance to in this life. Every decision we make is in harmony with the rhythm of the song we are meant to enjoy. We are all dancing and singing along until the lights go out; then it is someone else’s turn to step in tune with the recording life has ready for them. Time is neither right nor wrong; it just is, and it’s our job while we are here to take advantage of it.
We play with time because it’s a gift. How we honor this inheritance is entirely up to us. We can spend it on assumptions that create an illusion of progress. Or we can get on the dance floor and mingle with the essence which drives this reality. To explore the driving force of time is to dive off the board into the deep pool of our true selves, and it’s deeper than we think. In the web of reality, there are an endless amount of ways we can spin our storylines to interweave with others. In this world, billions of footprints walk around, creating conversation in the form of exchanging moments. This is a universal language all of us as one race share. As long as our heart beats and plays a sound that correlates to the dance, we can still say “I love you,” make amends with a friend, write that book, and answer the questions that disturb our soul. No matter if we don’t like the answer; even if it’s painful, it’s better to know than never to know at all.
The answers to questions have an expiration date, which means they mimic the nature of time. Everything is revealed when we look for it, but we have to be willing to look. It’s no use trying to turn back the hands of the clock: we will only break the instrument.
As time goes forward, expanding discoveries, we can consciously use what we gain from the past, with an outlook on the future, to determine how we handle the present. Sure, we may not be ready for something: that merely means that it’s not our time to have it, but it’s always the time to prepare ourselves for what we want.
Our conscious awareness can shift at any moment when we see time not from a chronological perspective, but in a more pliable way: for the benefit of living this life. We do this by making things last longer, savoring a good meal, or stretching out a good time with friends. We can also shorten what hurts us by quickly occupying our thoughts with positive tasks. Whatever the method, we can objectively work ways around the first-layer fundamentals of time. The years are not more valuable than the months. The months don’t speak ill of the weeks. The weeks don’t disregard the days. The days don’t look down on the hours. The hours don’t tell the minutes to hush. The minutes don’t try to kill the seconds. All hold an equivalent amount of meaning when we reach a destination.
Before we reach a goal, we only think of time in a pessimistic manner, because we haven’t gotten there yet, but when we do, it doesn’t matter how long it took, because we have finally arrived, with a reset judgment of where we are.
Our choices depend on time because if we had an unlimited amount of it, then the thrill of life would be nonexistent. It’s actually for our benefit that we don’t live forever, because then there would be nothing to gain from experience, and experience is what keeps us from being alone. We all see time through our unique viewpoints based on our path on this journey, so what may seem slow to one can be fast for another. What may be boring to someone will be fascinating for another.
Time can be seen clearly through the lens of open-mindedness and with the eyes of our hearts, which are a kind of spiritual sense enabling us to see and feel growth through time. When we grow, a hidden understanding reveals itself and reminds us that there are checkpoints in our life created by time for the simple reason that we were always meant to reach them.
Time is measured not just by the ticking sounds on a clock but by how we utilize the space between the beginning and the end. There is a saying that says, “Father Time is undefeated.” Yes, that is true. We cannot outlive the set departure date for the next phase, which goes on forever beyond our current understanding of time. Where is the next phase? Why is it forever? It depends on what you believe in. I believe that my spirit will ascend into heaven for eternity with God. We all have our own interpretations of what has been around before our existence.
In any event, life will go on without us and continue to write other stories. As soon as the ink hits the paper, it dries immediately, leaving a trail of memories for us to read and appreciate. What a great joy that our story will be on the bookshelf of life! This proves that we are never alone and our time here is not a waste. Material things wither away, but the impressions and tales we leave behind do last—not forever, but long enough to serve their purpose. We are all here now for a reason, which means we are not accidents. Nothing is by accident: time has a plan and a course it must follow.
Time itself must follow a set of laws, and if time must follow the rules, then it must have been ordered to do so. But by whom? Again, that all depends on what you believe in. Whether it is dictated by God or the laws of science, the nature of time is beautiful.
Michael Colon was born and raised in New York City. He says, “My mission is to use my craft to impact the lives of many. I look forward to sharing more of my work through the beautiful form of written art.”