Time: Friend or Foe?

I've been working on a fiction story that involves time. I love thinking about the direction and flow of that untouchable force.

Each of us, in our own way, will definitely suffer the benefits and ill effects of time all throughout our lives.

Time makes a good moment great by creating a lasting memory that we can revisit again and again.

It also makes it bad moment better by removing the immediate intensity of it making it more bearable.

Source: Pixabay.com

No matter who you are....you will deal with time.

Is time really working for us, or is it working against us?

I used to think it was my friend when I was younger. I looked forward to growing up and joining the working world. In my mind I could imagine grabbing some beer after work or pizza or whatever I wanted. I wouldn't have to wait for my mom to cook a dinner that I wasn't interested in eating.

I've had girlfriends that I missed terribly and, to be sure, time helped me in dealing with that.

However, as I watched a group of four women sitting down to lunch today I couldn't help but think once again about our friend time.

The youngest of the group got up hurriedly to yell for Aunt Mary as she walked in the front door of the restaurant. "Aunt Mary, Aunt Mary, we are over here!" Aunt Mary was a gray haired older women with many time honored wrinkles.

She was probably about 70 years old. She still wore a young girl's shirt that was very colorful though, and several bows in her hair. I felt a certain camaraderie with Aunt Mary. Certainly it was not her idea to get old.

Each of these women was a different age. The young girl that called for her aunt was probably about 8 years old. Her mother was about 20. That girl's mother, or someone who appeared to be her elder, was probably about 40 while Aunt Mary was 70 or so.

Time is working on the side of the young girl. She will get older, probably get married, maybe have kids, and continue to live life as everyone should, if things work out in her favor.

Aunt Mary will get older as well until she finally reaches the end. She might live to be a hundred years old or even longer depending on medical science.

No matter how you look at it, each one of these women will continue to grow older. Eventually a new young woman will replace the original. The new young woman will be 8 years older, while the original is 20, and the whole cycle will repeat.... but Mary may not be able to be involved because she will have moved on.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

I guess in a way it would depend on where Mary went. Some people believe in heaven or some sort of religious thing and I don't really have a strong opinion that I want to put forward on here about that. I'm a Buddhist but I think there probably is some higher power. Does that necessarily mean that Mary will go visit that higher power? I can't say for sure.

I do, however, think it's very sad that Mary will never be 8 years old again. She will never be 22 years old, and she will never be 40 years old.

I once watched a movie in which a elderly woman, that was about 80, said something interesting to her daughter. Her daughter said "Mother, you're old now.... you have to act like it!" and the mother said "No I'm not.... just because my body is 80 doesn't mean that the person inside is any older than you are."

This is one of those debates that could probably rage on forever. However, I think it's interesting to give some thought to the idea.

Is time on our side?

Does it start out on our side and then eventually leave us and become enemies?

I can't answer that.

I can think about it though I can write fiction stories about it. I can write blog pieces about it. I can get people thinking about it and talking about it. Time is one of those things that we don't fully understand and we might never fully understand.

I guess it's just one of those things.

Is time our friend? Who can say for sure?

No one.