There is one thing every single person on this planet is equal in.
Time.
In a single day, we all get 86,400 seconds. 1440 minutes. (if you start singing 'Rent' at this point, I absolve myself of all responsibility) 60 minutes. 24 hours.
Depending on where you live, the nature of that time may differ. The daylight may give way to the dark of night within a mere seven hours if you happen to be in Ushuaia, Argentina, on June 21, where the winter solstice allows the sun to shine from only 10am to 5pm.
That same time of year in Michigan, the summer sun wakes just after 5am and doesn't fully relent to the stars and moon until nearly 10pm.
But even though the movement of the celestial bodies around our planet forms the basis for how we as a people have come to quantify and measure time, what really matters is how we choose to use the seconds and minutes, and hours we have.
Ideally, we want 7 to 8 hours of solid sleep. For most young parents, this is a fanciful daydream. But for argument's sake, we'll stick with 8 hours.
That leaves you with 16 hours per day. In terms of the week, our waking hours would total 112.
Let's say you work full-time. There go at least 40 hours, possibly far more, up to or above 60 for many. Let's split the difference and, say, 50 hours.
Fun fact: The average mom or stay-at-home parent works 98 hours weekly. So shout out to my wife and all those who do the same.
Even for those without children, the other demands of life, relationships, bills, and errands apart from kids would easily add up to that 98 considering a full-time job.
Leaving us with 14 hours.
What are we to do with that time? It could easily be allocated to endless scrolling on social media, a streaming binge, or other things vying for our attention and, yes, our time.
Early last year, I awoke from a dream which would become the seed of an idea for a novel called 'Timeruler'. I haven't fleshed it out all that much yet; it's one of many ideas on the developmental tick list, though it is one planned to be tied to the collective universe of the Stration.
Set on the arid planet of Chronis, full of golden and white sands, the viridian desert is set apart, notable for its green sands, which grant some the ability to manipulate aspects of time. But these sands are guarded by the Timeruler and his Kronogard, and the tyrant king uses a golden hourglass given him from the gods (so it is said) that allows him to squelch any and all resistance against him by turning back time and reversing any outcome.
It is to be a heist story involving magical time manipulation to steal the hourglass from the throne room of the Timeruler. But as these things go, hijinks and disaster will ensue.
Back to our reality, here's something to consider: We actually are rulers of our own time.
We all get those 86,400 seconds in a day or 604,800 seconds in a week. These grains of sand in the hourglass will fall to the bottom no matter what. Our agency comes into play as we determine how we use the time before it's emptied.
Even though I've come to recognize the value of the time I have, which is both an abundance and a scarcity depending on your vantage, your disposition, and the demands of the present, I still fall short in taking command of it in the way I ought to on a regular basis.
Those grains of sand ought never to fall away in vain inevitably. They ought to build the things we long to see in our lifetime, piling on one other to create the vibrant viridian desert of our dreams. Thriving families are made alive and vibrant from quality minutes and hours spent together. Ambitious passion projects are seen through to completion in spite of days, weeks, months, or years of cumulative resistance and because of a refusal to relinquish control over our time.
You are the Timeruler of your life. There's no question there. The real question is:
Will you be a ruler full of benevolent wisdom? One given to blatant disregard? Or one taken over by blasphemous hubris, believing time is infinite? (Spoiler alert: it's not)
I've played all the above roles, but I strive for the former.
Since time is all we have and happens to be the great equalizer, I hope that I honor the treasure of each gleaming grain of sand that runs through my own personal hourglass, the vessel of life and time. We never know the day and the hour ours will run out. So rule it well.
We all have an equal measure of time every day. Where we differ from one another is in how we redeem the time allotted.
- R.C. Sproul
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