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Meaning of Life

How we think about time: Philosophical and practical implications

Time is a funny commodity which few appreciate until it's too late. We all start with a "bank" of time when we're born. The problem is, we don't know how much time is in that bank. It is an unfair but true that some of us are born rich and some poor when it comes to our "asset of time".

Most of us begin our lives taking time for granted. We feel "immortal" in a sense. After all, it is difficult to envision the World without us. So, we are usually less than diligent with regards to how we spend our time, or, with any sense of urgency.

We all start the week with one-hundred sixty-eight hours.

If we figure roughly eight hours per day to sleep, (fifty-six hours), we reduce our available time to one-hundred twelve hours. Then, there is personal hygiene. This can vary greatly but I would say ninety minutes a day is a good average. Eating takes some time. Again, that can vary greatly, but, let's use forty-five minutes per meal.

That's eighteen hours for eating and seven and one-half for hygiene. We have depleted our weekly "bank" to eight-six and one-half hours. We still have to deduct about fifty hours for work; (eight hours plus two getting ready and getting to and from work). Thirty-six and one-half hours are left. Let's round it to thirty-seven. Of course this outline is a "standard" and many people may have a different schedule.

Also it presumes the person portrayed is an adult. However, if it remotely applies to you, are you surprised that you have thirty-seven, (and perhaps more), "flex hours"? I mean if you're like me, you always feel you don't have enough time. But, the truth is, we have about five plus hours per day to get things accomplished.

What changes peoples' attitude about time? A lot of times it is an experience like an accident, or a death of someone who, somehow, brings them in touch with their mortality. Something happens that makes them "think and feel mortal".

What typically is the cause, however, is the simple process of getting older. When we start realizing our" bank is be getting depleted, then, we start to get a sense of urgency. Unfortunately, that reality often is also accompanied by a feeling of hopelessness that there is not enough time.

Whenever you become aware of your need to improve your "time management", usually some examination of habits is needed.
What makes some people successful and others not so successful? I think there are three basic factors, and, I hasten to add this is just my observation;


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