- We aren't given enough of it, and as Basil Fawlty pointed out, this is it, you don't get another go.
- It only works one way, so you can't nip back in time and warn yourself not to buy a pension with Equitable Life* but invest the money in a cheap-at-the-time flat in Hackney instead.
- And my current grouse - if you are working on one thing, by definition you are not working on something else.
Maybe I'm lacking in time management skills, though I'd prefer to think I'm attempting too much. What about you?
*This is not written from experience. Luckily I couldn't afford to give Equitable Life more than a trifle - or for that matter buy a spare flat.
Not just you, Lexi - most of us (especially women - all over the world) struggle to fit everything in.
ReplyDeleteAnd another mystery - how come there's even less free time after retirement?
I think it's entirely possible that in some spooky and as yet unidentified manner, minutes, weeks and years get shorter as you get older. Remember how long the summer lasted before you were ten? And look how it whizzes by now.
ReplyDeleteIt's not fair!
The more time I am supposed to have the less there seems to be. I'm amazed at how little I managed to achieve during a school day.
ReplyDeleteCheers
MTM
MTM, anyone who achieves anything at all while simultaneously bringing up a child is to be congratulated.
ReplyDeleteRegards to little McMini.
Lexi: I think it's entirely possible that in some spooky and as yet unidentified manner, minutes, weeks and years get shorter as you get older.
ReplyDeleteI have a theory that as you get older and therefore nearer to the next existence, the passage of personal time speeds up and approaches an infinite rate at the time of death. After death your atoms merge with the cosmic dust and are controlled by quantum mechanical rules which allow time to go backwards or forwards so that the concept of ageing ceases to have meaning.
By the way I had a most excellent port a little while back ... to celebrate American independence day! *wink*
I must say the next existence of which you speak, Q, doesn't sound much fun. Not ageing and time travel are okay, but I'm less enthusiastic about the prospect of merging with cosmic dust.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Have a glass of port or four, Lexi, then merging might sound uniquely exciting, and Q will be regarded as a genius for discovering this.
ReplyDeleteLack of time - I blame the government! They swamp us with endless diy jobs that used to be done by an official - now we have to do it ourselves. I love the way (not) they are encouraging 80+ year olds to learn to go on line and fill in forms for this and that.
Then there's sorting the rubbish. Recycling stuff is supposed to be clean, so do they mean we are to wash the rubbish before we dispose of it? I scrupulously put all food scraps separately (in the little bin they provide) and I watch them chuck it in the back of the same truck they throw the other rubbish in.
It's a conspiracy to keep the population busy doing nothing. And the techies are in on it, keeping me up all night chatting.
One day, when I get time, I shall rebel. Or get put away.
A good post, Lexi, one most writers will agree with and if I could give the gift of time, I'd give it to you.
Lexi, time is just something we made up to account for the movement of the spheres. See? It's not real, so it can't be a problem. Can it ;)
ReplyDeleteAnna, I think 80+ year old computer virgins might enjoy the internet if encouraged to go on it. Though probably not the form filling.
ReplyDeleteGreta, you sound far too laid back. Have you been at Q's port?
Seneca's De Brevitate Vitae (The Shortness of Life) covers the subject very well.
ReplyDeleteI must say The Shortness of Life is a somewhat depressing title, Russell - I shall approach it cautiously via Wikipedia :o)
ReplyDeleteAs someone who is 4.5 years into a novel I couldn't agree more, Lexi. I have no idea where the time goes. For a while I thought I was a terrible slacker, so I started a time and motion study on myself and found out I was working all the time. I guess I'm just woefully unproductive. If you discover a way to stretch or harvest more hours in the day... let me know asap!
ReplyDeleteGuy, if I ever discover a means of harvesting more hours in the day, I shall certainly let you in on it - for a price :o)
ReplyDelete