“The Sands of Time”
By: Wishes to Remain Nameless
Time, the only constant for all of us, 1 second is 1 second…. Or is it? We have always been taught that time is relative and constant but at certain times in our lives, it isn’t. There are times in our lives where 1 hour seems like an eternity while to someone else it seems completely normal. It is a battle that is something that is completely unexpected and absolutely terrorizing. The fight against time is one where not only are you against all odds, but time isn’t on your side. When you decide to face off against time, be prepared, it’s going to be something that you are never, ever prepared for. For time, after all, is the great equalizer. Meaning if you feel strong, it can fix that, you feel weak, it will compound on that feeling. It will take any strengths and use them against you, all while making any of your weaknesses go from a pebble to a mountain.
You start off your day thinking today will be just like any other day, then time decides to throw you a curveball. Think about how many times you have been somewhere, work, school, etc. and you look at the clock fully expecting the day to have rapidly progressed and much to your utter dismay, it’s been 20 minutes! While 20 minutes doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, it does add up, time will make sure of it! 20 Minutes can be something that will encompass an entire show or seem like a blink of an eye! I think it’s safe to say that we have all been spending time with family/friends before and realized you need to leave in 20 minutes, next thing you know, times up! The sands of time can make a minute feel like a blink of an eye or feel like hours upon hours… but the minutes are the least of your worries!
Hours, the big brother of the minute! There’s only 24 hours in a day, we all know that, but those hours can feel like days, even weeks! An NFL game is 60 minutes, but it takes much longer than that to complete. This is the same case when you are battling the sands of time. The sands have a power, a power to take something constant and not only make it feel random but also punishing. An hour is something that is typically almost as easy to pass as it’s little brother the minute, but not this time. This time these hours are not only going to seem like they have doubled, but they are going to sting, because the sands deem them to! 3 Hours, the real amount of time a typically NFL game takes to complete, think about it, it takes 3 times as long to complete a 1 hour game. While a game is typically fun, in this scenario, it isn’t. Those 3 Hours are going to decide a winner and a loser, plain and simple, someone is going to walk out victorious and someone defeated. 3 Hours, nothing more nothing less.
We all know what the hours can add up to, Days. When we were kids, what were the longest days of the year??? Most likely it was the day before Christmas or your birthday, it was for me! Let’s think about more than a single day though, let’s take 4. 4 Days, this can be a nice long weekend for some and other times the worst days of the week. How fun is a Monday??? Rarely will you hear someone excited for a Monday, because Fuck Mondays! When we’re fighting the sands 4 Days can be an absolute eternity. Think about all the seconds, minutes, hours and then days. That’s a lot of time, time that currently isn’t trying to do you any solids. No, it’s trying to make you feel every second, but it want’s it to linger, to overstay its welcome. It wants those 4 Days to make your life a living hell and typically that is something it can succeed at very easily. Now, remember that we have discussed how time is relative and constant, so during this fight against the sands, you must not only remember this but also compensate for the unfair advantage that time has. Those 4 Days are going to feel like an entire week, and then some. So, what do you do? Well, we’re not to that yet, because days add up….
So, we all know what comes next, a week. If you are in Hawaii on vacation, a week can feel like a single day, blink and it’s over! Now when you are in a battle against the sands, a week can feel like a month! But 1 week is too easy…. Let’s look at 4 Weeks! Damn near a month, in February it is a full month, 4 Weeks that’s a long time. In 4 Weeks so much can change, you can go through almost the entire holiday season, give yourself a week before Christmas and in 4 weeks, you’re in a whole new year! While the holidays are typically a time to embrace family/friends, recharge the batteries, go on a vacation, this isn’t that kind of 4 weeks. No, these 4 weeks is going to be the absolute longest 4 Weeks of your entire life. This 4 Week period is not only going to test you harder than anything before, it isn’t going to be quick. These 4 Weeks are going to be the longest period of your life! The sands are going to make sure about it, the whole point of the minutes, hours, and days is to add up, each minute is a pound, an hour is 60 pounds, a day is 1440 pounds, and a week is 10,080 pounds. So, we are looking at 46,280 pounds weighing in on you, trying to crush you, break you. The sands don’t play fair, remember, and as you can see, there are a lot of them!
So, 46,280 pounds, no human being can lift that, support it, carry it.It is impossible, so how do you do it?The sands are going to apply all the pressure they can, they want you to feel the weight pushing you into the floor, making your knees buckle and shake.The sands biggest strength is that it is so big, and so heavy that you could never possibly lift/support/carry.When you decide to go up against time, you only have one option, 1 chance, you must take every minute as it comes.If you let the sands group up, they are to strong, but on their own, they are weak.You must battle the sands 1 Minute at a time, you must attack every minute and not let up, because if you let up, those minutes turn into hours, days, weeks…. All the weight starts to bear down on you and that is when you break.But breaking isn’t an option, it’s not what you do, not how you are wired.No, you are a fighter, that’s why you are going to answer the bell, every minute, every hour, every day, every week, no matter the pain and agony it brings.The sands are going to try to burry/break/tire you out, but they can only try.You are the one ultimately who decides whether to stand up, to answer the bell, to stop the sands of time!
