A Riddle

I am priceless; I cannot be bought with money.
You can use me, but you cannot own me.
You can spend me, but cannot keep me.
Once you’ve lost me, you can never get me back
What am I?

Answer: Time

How many times have I complained that I haven’t any time? Yet I am allotted the same time as anyone is: 24 hours in a day.

How many times have I complained at how swiftly time moves? Yet time moves at the same rate for everyone: 60 minutes to the hour.

I complain about time as though I were the only one constrained by it–as though I were the only one that felt its subtle bonds. Yet time is an impartial master, placing the same bonds on every man.

My experiences with time are not unique–but I can choose to let my response to time be unique. I can choose to embrace time as my friend rather than struggle with it as my enemy. I can choose to seize each moment rather than complain about every moment lost. I can choose to remember the past with fondness, look forward to the future with hope, and live today to the fullest.

And so I shall. I shall live my newly hectic life to the fullest: interning in the CCU, taking a 5-week summer course, enjoying this weekend’s family festival, preparing a marketing proposal with a friend, coordinating our church’s 20S ministry. And maybe somewhere, in the midst of all that, I can take a moment in hope of the future and go house shopping. Just maybe.

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