“Lost time is never found again.”

Shout out to good ole Ben for coming up with this quote. I came across it the other day when I was looking for a new computer background and it got me thinking about time and how I use it.

When I came home from college a few weeks ago, I decided I wanted to do some much-needed spring cleaning and clear out all the old junk that I had left behind in my room. As I was going through millions of T-shirts and other high school memorabilia, it hit me just how much had changed and how much I had grown since I left a year prior. Activities like volleyball that I spent so much time participating in were now just a pile of smelly knee pads and sweat-stained jerseys. People that I saw every single day dwindled down to hardly ever speaking. My priorities and who I surrounded myself with had taken a major shift in a very short amount of time.

I realized how quickly the year had gone by. It’s no joke that college really does go by faster than high school. I started thinking about how quickly these next three years were going to go. Now, if you are anything like me, the idea of time and how quickly it moves will eventually lead to a full-fledged panic attack. It freaks me out to think of the big picture of life because it becomes real how short our time is here.

OK, you may be thinking, “Wow these are some deep thoughts for just a simple spring cleaning session,” but let’s be honest: you start out cleaning, then end up sitting in the middle of your floor holding all your random knick-knacks and contemplating life. You soon realize you’ve wasted four hours and your room is messier than it was when you started. We all know how that goes, right? This is what was happening when I decided to look for a computer background (to avoid picking up the heaping piles of stuff I had created), which led me to that quote, which led me to think of time. Now that we’ve come full circle, let’s get back to the topic at hand.

Time.

Time is just the craziest thing. First off, real time (like clocks and such) is completely man made and it controls our entire life. Everything we do runs on a timer. People always have somewhere to be, something to be early or late too. Time keeps going and doesn’t stop for anyone or anything.

So what do we do with this time that we have? Do we utilize every second? Of course not. That’s impossible, right? Or is it? Think about it. What if you did something every single second of every day. Well, don’t we already do that? I mean we sleep, eat, breathe, talk, walk. That’s using up time, right? Sure, you could argue that you are utilizing your time by going through the motions and doing your daily routine. But isn’t that boring?

I realized how much time I don’t even spend doing the basic mundane stuff. I realized that I spend a huge chunk of my day doing literally nothing of importance. Scrolling on Instagram, Facebook, Snapchatting, looking at emails and Pinterest. Gosh, I probably spend at least five hours a day staring at a screen. The sad thing is, that is probably not even a lot compared to other people.

Think of your life continuum. I know that is a scary thing to do, but trust me. Think of how long you’ve lived on this Earth and hopefully you continue to live for quite some time, but obviously, we don’t live forever. Have you accomplished anything great? Achieved any dreams? I know it’s cheesy, but you really never know when your last moment will be. So why would anyone want to spend their time doing anything other than what they enjoy?

This is easier said than done, I know. Life isn’t all roses and butterflies. Sometimes you have to work a job you hate to pay the bills. Sometimes you have to deal with annoying people. Sometimes you have bad luck or get put in crappy situations. Sometimes life just sucks and you can’t do anything about it.

But sometimes life is amazing and we fail to see it because we are too busy wasting our time away, distracted or being negative. How do you spend your time? Are you the person who always looks at the bad side of things? Do you get carried away trying to accomplish everything on your to-do list? Are you lazy? Are you bitter? Are you always running errands for everyone else and never leaving time for yourself? Do you wake up, eat the same breakfast, go to the same job, see the same people and do the same thing every single day?

Maybe those applied to you or maybe they didn’t. Either way, this is your life. It is your time. You may not have control over everything, but you have control over your attitude, perspective and how you react. If you don’t like how you are spending your time, then change it. Switch jobs, mix up your schedule or simply take time for yourself. Do something outside of the box.

Time may never stop, but I think you can make it slow down. Acknowledge the little things in life. Something as easy as looking outside and being thankful for the sunshine, spending genuine, quality time with the people you love, learning something new, waking up early and being productive or just laying in bed and drinking coffee for example. Go on a spontaneous adventure. Travel. Read books. All of these things, I believe, can make time slow down. Maybe not literally slow down, but at least feel like it. Once you learn to slow time down, I really think you become more appreciative of all that life has to offer.

This life really is amazing and you only get one of them. So stop wasting your time away. Push yourself outside your comfort zone. Go on a creative endeavor. Learn to step away from the hustle and bustle and just live.

In case you forgot, let me remind you that, like Benjamin Franklin said, “Lost time is never found again.”