You will sometimes be told that time is precious, don’t waste it. This is based on the idea that because time is irreplaceable, it is therefore precious.
I will grant that time is irreplaceable, but I will not grant it is precious.
Why?
We don’t waste precious things.
How do we know that time is not precious? Compare it to something precious, something we would never waste, gold. Gold is precious.
We have a limited amount of time. We have a limited amount of gold.
We waste time. We don’t waste gold.
Therefore, where gold is precious, time is not.
If you were to talk to the average person, he might even be convinced that time is precious and he shouldn’t waste it.
So what?
If you have to be convinced something is precious, then you aren’t likely ever to think it’s actually precious.
It’s possible the people saying this genuinely believe time is precious, but the vast majority of us do not. We have entire industries devoted to creating time wasters.
- The entertainment industry
- Sports
- Games
- Social media
All of these, and more, exist for the sole purpose of pointlessly using our time. Wasting it.
So, maybe you need to ask yourself, “Is time really precious?”
If it is, what then?
If time is precious, what are you doing with yours? Are you getting value for your time? Are you happy with the way you’re spending your time?
If so, great.
If not, why not?
