Time fleeing with a speed nothing can alter! -Jules Verne, Journey to the Center of the Earth
Jules Verne, of course, does not really need an introduction. He was born in France in 1828 and produced a variety of works, though he is perhaps best known for his adventure novels. As he should be, he is still widely read today and generally trails only Agatha Christie and Shakespeare as our planet’s most translated writers.
Verne is also regarded as one of the first and most influential science fiction writers, though Verne always maintained he was not a science fiction writer because he was not a scientist. This is of no particular consequence and can be debated later by those desirous of a very dull argument.
Today’s thought cuts to the very heart of our human experience. We do not have unlimited time on this planet. Not only is our time finite, we have some zero clue when it will end. And it is fleeting. Every day brings us one step closer to our last day.
The 24 hours in each day is the only commodity every human being is issued in equal measure. All of us are born into different circumstances. Some, like Prince Charles of Great Britain, are born into a life they have little control over. Charles had very few options. He could be Prince of Wales and, eventually, king, or he could be the Prince of Wales and, eventually, king. Short of locking himself in a palace, these were his only two choices.
Some are born with no chance. It’s tragic, of course, but that is the way the world is built. Either through illness or dire poverty or living in a country with an unstable government and way of life, some simply will spend their entire lives suffering.
… with a speed nothing can alter!
Most of us, however, fall somewhere in between. The days are relentless and nothing can alter them. What we get out of our lives, for the most part, depends on how we spend the 24 hours we are issued. Good lives are lived by those who have good years, and to have good years we must have good days.
We can use the 24 hours of each day to put nature and circumstance to work for us, or we can squander them. The choice is ours. When our time comes to evaluate our lives, we are going to ask ourselves did we do well, or did we waste our precious existence?
To say we did well, we must start our collection of good days now. We must make our time on this planet serve us, and not spend it merely serving time.
