Time Paradox: Why People Only Appreciate Time in Retrospect

As much as we would like to, we cannot foresee the future. There is no way to predict what our lives will hold for us.

What we can do, though, is ensure we’re making the most of time now and taking proactive steps to minimise worries about our future selves.

Appreciation for time is the best way to put it to good use. Unfortunately, humans are too preoccupied to recognise the value of time in real-time.

We don’t slow down on purpose to find ourselves or learn more about what makes us come alive.

“It does not matter how much time we are given if there is nowhere for it to settle; it escapes through the cracks and holes of the mind,” Seneca said, in his book, On the Shortness of Life.

Most people only appreciate time in retrospect; they are strapped for time in the present and miss out on meaningful experiences until it’s too late.

The value of time is often overlooked.

We only become conscious of ourselves when we realise we’ve wasted a lot of it on things that brought little or no fulfilment to our lives.

Sometimes the realisation doesn’t happen until it’s too late.

Some people get this awareness when they lose something or someone, and yet, others recognise the shortness of life when something terrible happens in their lives.

If you only appreciate time in retrospect, it doesn’t mean that you are disorganised, lazy, or unmotivated.

Rather, it means that you are spending time in a way that does not make you happy. Many people only appreciate time in hindsight because there is too much of it. And it can be challenging to make the most of it if you are always in a hurry.

People only value time when they look backwards. They don’t appreciate time while they have it in abundance.

“The bottom line is, time is a powerful force. It transforms our preferences. It reshapes our values. It alters our personalities. We seem to appreciate this fact, but only in retrospect,” says Dan Gilbert, the author of Stumbling on Happiness.

When we’re young, we have so much time to appreciate the things we deeply care about. But as we grow older, we have less time to focus on the things that make us come alive.

It’s because we’ve become so preoccupied with wants instead of needs.

Finding time for small but meaningful things is challenging in today’s world. You don’t have the time to see the good things in your life. What you value the most will not be as valuable as you thought it was.

The world is increasingly becoming a chaotic place.

It’s filled with uncertainty, stress, deadlines, and other people who can take your focus away from what’s important.

However, you can take back control.

Everyone has the potential to ground themselves in the present moment and appreciate life better. You can be deliberate about how you spend your life.

You can respect time by making time for something meaningful.

“People are frugal in guarding their personal property; but as soon as it comes to squandering time they are most wasteful of the one thing in which it is right to be stingy,” says Seneca.

How many times have you traded time for experiences that brought out the worst in you? Choose your experiences carefully.

Time is a powerful force that can change everything if you think about its influence and respond to it wisely; it can bring us so much fulfilment.

You can’t change the past, but you can take steps to ensure that you’ll waste as little time as possible in the future.

The present, right now, is the best time to appreciate time and do more of what brings out the best in you.

“One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself,” says Shannon L. Alder.

A life well-lived is determined by how you spend your time currency. You are a work in progress; don’t waste time until it’s too late to change your life’s story. Choose to become your best yourself now.

There is nothing to regret if you live your life on purpose, pursue your curiosities, and slow down to appreciate the people in your life and the small experiences you normally ignore.

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This post was previously published on Thomas Oppong’s blog.

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