Carve your own scale in the flow of eternity
Time is the most generous gift of the universe and the harshest judge. It gives everyone 24 hours a day equally, but due to different ways of using it, life goes to very different trajectories. From the ancient Egyptians used sundials to divide the day and night, to the modern atomic clock to ten million years of error of one second precision measurement of time, mankind has always been in pursuit of: what attitude we should face this one-way journey through time and space?
The nature of time: a game that cannot be archived
Physicists say that time is the arrow of entropy increase after the Big Bang; philosophers say that time is the form of the flow of existence itself; and in the words of Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes, “Time is not passing, it is we who are passing.”
This seemingly abstract concept actually dominates the ultimate proposition of all life:
Irreversibility: Even if time machines exist, the paradox of going back in time to kill our grandfather warns us - every choice shapes irrevocable reality;
Relativity: Einstein proved that people traveling close to the speed of light would age more slowly, implying that subjective experience is the true measure of time;
Scarcity: Silicon Valley's “Time Bank” experiment shows that when the rich buy other people's time with money to accomplish chores, it exposes the brutal nature of time as a non-renewable resource.
Like the river Heraclitus stepped into in ancient Greece, we can never have the same second twice.
In the Himalayas, under the dry city of Zhangjia Peak, Sherpas still use “burning sticks” to keep time - when the sunlight focuses on a pine branch stuck in the snow, it marks the end of a labor cycle. This wisdom of incorporating natural rhythms into the measurement of time is perhaps closer to the essence than the vibrating reminders of a smartwatch.
Time never rushes anyone, it just calmly spreads the scroll and waits for each life to write the answer with choice. When we stop chasing time and become its collaborators, those minutes and seconds that have been gnawed by anxiety will eventually blossom into an unexpected abundance in a relaxed manner.
Look down at your watch.
In the 3.8 seconds it took you to read that sentence, the Earth has traveled 114 kilometers around the sun, a hummingbird has lifted its wings 380 times, and some supernova has fallen silent into dust 1,300 light years away. And your heart is pumping its 28th beat to your fingertips - where the MINBER's second hand has just swept through a brand new arc.
Time never waits for anyone, but it always waits for you to awaken.
