We see our lives as an endless amount of days, one after the other. The years that pass seem like only days away, yet the days ahead seem like years away. Our perception of time is distorted, it’s the only asset we spend as if we have an endless supply.
It seems like yesterday I was writing my first post about Ramadan. At the time, I didn’t know how consistent I would be, or if I would be consistent at all. Posting something once a day seemed daunting, especially when you never know how you’ll feel.
As you read this, Ramadan is about one-third done. We are on our tenth day, and in a few days, we will be halfway done with the month. I bring this up because it highlights how fast time moves. Even during the days when everything is slowing down, the world around us keeps moving at a lightning pace.
Time isn’t moving faster in the literal sense. Twenty-four hours in a day is still twenty-four hours. What is moving faster is the speed at which we can complete things, which makes everything seem faster. For instance, sending a message to someone across the world once took days, today it can be sent within seconds via email. Today, if you click an app on your phone and it takes more than a second to open you’ll feel like your app has a bug. We expect everything to move at breakneck speed, which changes our perception of time.
We must all take inventory of our lives and remember the worse thing in life is not failure, it’s regret. To look back on your life and regret not taking chances, missed connections, or worse of all, not giving yourself a chance. Regret will lead to disappointment that no amount of failure can compare.
Think back on your life at the times when you wanted to do something but stopped yourself because of fear of embarrassment or failure. Looking back now, days, months, or years later, wouldn’t you rather know how things would have turned out rather than wonder “what if”?
I remind myself of this today so that I can slow down and enjoy the days we are in. Soon, I will be writing my last post for Ramadan and will be moving on to another project. When that time comes, I hope to look back on this month with joy and pride because I was able to get the most out of my time in Ramadan. That it was the beginning of a new commitment to give myself a chance to grow in every aspect of my life. The growth that only comes from living in the moment, taking risks, and knowing that in time, I’d rather experience failure than deal with regret.
I call this series “Not Even Water” because whenever I tell someone I’m fasting from food and drink, the first thing they ask is, “Not even water?” So, for those of you wondering, no food or drink means nothing, not even water. I hope you learned something from this post and follow my journey.
True about time running fast! I always pray when as a teacher I have to meet deadlines, I pray Allah SWT to bless and give barkat in my time.