Tick – Tock

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As humans, it’s found deep inside us: the need of possession. We need stuff, a lot of them, to make us happy, and we want the stuff to be ours, now, if possible.

We first want toys, later better clothes, gadgets, a car, a house, money to gives us freedom to do what makes us happy, travel. We believe material goods will gives us the freedom, and we are willing to do whatever it takes to get just the right amount of money.

But when do we reach the right amount? The more we have, the more we spend, the more money we need. It’s a vicious circle, in which we get stuck at a very early age, and which doesn’t leave us that easily. We invest every little time we have, and energy, to get the money to push us forward in this circle.

“People were created to be loved, things were created to be used; the reason why the world is in chaos right now is because things are being loved, and people are being used.”

We constantly dream about what would life look like if we had just one more thing. We put our happiness into that material good which is still missing. We work to have it, and when we finally do, we move on to the next one. Basically, we’re never done. We’re never happy with what we have, but we’re always thinking about what we’re missing.

Ever since we get our first job, our view of possessions changes. We dream bigger, and we constantly want more possessions, more expensive, to show off with, and to prove to the world that we’re doing great, and we have a perfect life.

We get into a competition with everyone around us, for the title of: “perfect life“. That perfect life is judged by the type of phone you have, the clothing store you shop at, the size of your car and the brand, the type of house you own, and how many, the type of furniture you have, and so on. We become a walking price tag, in a crazy society, and we must be better than the others.

Possessions give us a certain status. By a crazy thinking process, we become better humans. We’re better than the others, because we have more money, which can buy us more stuff. We feel superior, because we have access to things others don’t. And we love our things. We love our things so much that we end up judging people on what they own, and choose our friends depending on the financial aspect of their lives.

Life turns slowly into a race to the finish line. We race into making more money, buying more stuff, and we end up with a full house, and an empty home. We fight to “be better than others”, not realizing that the only person we should be better than, is the person we were yesterday.

Money doesn’t makes us better than others. Money can buy us more things, but it will never buy us the most important ones. No amount of money will change a darkened soul and a bad attitude towards others. And still, we believe money does that. We believe money makes us stronger and immortal. Well, that’s just not true.

We waste our lives making more money so we have have more stuff, just to realize time flied by us, we’re old, we missed on actually living, just to win the race against others. But did we win anything? We gained materially, while we lost spiritually. We lost our more important possession ever: TIME. Tick-Tock!

“The trouble is, you think you have time.” – Buddha

What does having a job actually means? We get paid, for our work right? Wrong. We get paid for the time we give away. We receive money, for the number of hours per month, we lose. They’re gone, and you can never get them back, no matter how many possessions you gather on the way.

The older we get, the more we realize the value of time, and the more we regret on wasting it on the wrong things. Life is too short to be stuck in any situation which doesn’t make you happy. We believe money gives us freedom, when actually, it just takes it away. We want to work now, save some money, so we can enjoy life later. What if later doesn’t come?

I recently found out about a tragic story of a person who worked his entire life, and retired 2 weeks ago, with the wild dream of finally cycling, travelling and enjoying life, as he didn’t had the time to do so, while he had a job. Later didn’t happen. Later was taken away from him, when a heart attack put an end to all the dreams…

Trading time for money, might leave you with no more time to spend the money. We weren’t born just to work, earn money, and die.

Even if it might look like time is free, time is actually priceless. There’s probably one of the only things in life, we just can’t get back, regardless of how much money we have and what we own. Time is constant. Time doesn’t go slower for anyone. Time is unmerciful. Time doesn’t care. You either value it, or you will learn its value when it’s too late.

“If you don’t master your time, it is of much higher probability that you will become an unconscious slave to people who have mastered theirs.” – Brandon A.

Time is the best teacher, but we’re very bad students, and sometimes learn the lesson when we run out of time. We waste time on living in the past or worrying about tomorrow, while forgetting to live today. Today is all we have. Yesterday is gone, and tomorrow is never promised.

Life is all about finding that perfect balance. Life is about learning that we pay with our time for everything. Money is just a human invention, time is the real currency, and you can never alter the account in your favor.

Remember, you were born for great things. Don’t let your time be taken away from you. You’re never really busy, it’s all a matter of choice. Choose wisely when you give your time away! Tick-Tock!

“One day you will hear the sound of time rustling as it slips through your fingers like sand.” ― Sergei Lukyanenko

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35 thoughts on “Tick – Tock”

  4. I can tell that this post is straight from the heart, Lucy. Well written with your special own passionate style. I say amen to this. Mr. Walker and I love our life style, we care for our sons, our house, beautiful things, travels…but most of all we keep an eye on the price we are willing to pay. Financial freedom is more than having no debts. It means freedom to make changes when we want it, learning,teaching and appreciating values that are more important.
    We buy to use, when we have the money for it and when something comes into the house…something goes out again. It is also a frame of mind: when we went on honey moon, in our old Italian car with a little tent, traveling for 3 weeks in Scotland, we felt fortunate already.
    We are happy to see that our sons follow that path. And you know what, not worrying about money and not longing about things we do not have, made us more fortunate in every sense of the word than we ever expected to be. xo Johanna

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    • Thank you for reading and for your wonderful feedback, Johanna! As always, very much appreciated. I do put a lot of heart into my writings, that’s for sure 🙂
      I enjoyed reading your words. It’s beautiful to know your family values freedom a lot more than possessions. Sometimes, having less means you are happier, and the stress of money goes away. We shouldn’t pay the price of our time, only to obtain temporary goods. The problem with that, is you never know when you’re done.
      The story about your honey moon is lovely!! That’s exactly how I feel. Such small details, mean so much more than expensive gifts 🙂
      Have a lovely day! xo

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  6. Usually the closeness of death is the only thing, similar to a bath of cold water, that can makes people understand that some things are a ridiculous way to waste our lives. I know that pretty well and mostly my life know is designing, writing, composing music, things that are not more valuable, simply I just truly enjoy and time ago I’d say “I’ll do some day in the future”.
    Thanks Lucy for a balanced essay, I like how you show that money or interests can turn us into slaves of things but at the same time you don’t say that we’ve to renounce to our needs or to our desires, just appreciate them in relation to our time.

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    • I can’t agree more, Francis! Usually getting closer to death makes us realize all of this, but it’s a pity, as sometimes it’s too late for some of us. Hearing about that story, with the man who died 2 weeks after his retirement really made me sad, and I wanted to get others into that mindset as well. It would be a waste to postpone all your dreams for a later which won’t ever come.
      Money can definitely makes us modern day slaves. Is just that we don’t realize it. Banks turned a lot of people into their indirect employees, as people with a lot of debt work for the bank, their entire life. You can’t quit, you can’t risk the income, because you are stuck…. Very sad 😦 I’m glad you managed to keep such a wonderful balance in your life!
      Thank you so much for reading and for your wonderful feedback! Have a lovely day!

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  7. I think life is more interesting if we accumulate experienced, travelling, personal achievements than pilling up a bunch of pricey crap 😀 5 years ago, I was buying a lot of things quite easily. these days, I think twice before buying something. I compare, try to buy durable stuff of good quality so it will last longer and avoid spending money on useless stuff.

    Nice post ! As always 🙂 I’ve missed your posts !!!

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    • Aww I missed your feedback and your emails a lot!! Good to have you back!! Thanks for reading!
      I think we’ve all been into such a stage in our lives, but it’s good to realize which are the most important things. Fortune is never stuck in material possessions, but in the ones which we can’t buy or replace. I think time is the valuable one, and is constantly ticking. Sometimes I wish I could make it slow down a bit 🙂
      Have a lovely day! ❤

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    • Thank you so much for your kind words! I’m happy to read this. You made my day!! 🙂 I don’t believe blogging is a waste of time at all. I met incredible people, exchanged provocative ideas, and learned a lot about myself and my writing style. What else could I ask for? Have a lovely day!

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  9. You’re totally right and I totally agree! Wish I could live that fully! Because you need money for paying your rent, groceries, travelling. But there must be another way instead of saling my time to get some money back. I’m absolutely convinced.

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    • Thank you for reading, my friend! We all need money for that, but it’s a limit we should never cross, which is dedicating our lives to making money and forgetting to live. That can backfire at us pretty bad, when we finally decide to live. There is always a way to add more time for ourselves into our daily activities. I wish you good luck with this, and I hope you manage to enjoy your passions more. Have a lovely day!

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    • Thank you so much for reading and for sharing your feedback! We all need the money, but I think modern day society pushed us to the point where we don’t know how to maintain a balance, and when to feel happy with what we have. I’m sure there’s a way to do this, before it’s too late. Have a lovely day!

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  11. This is indeed a special treat from you Lucy, it is straight from your heart, it is come out the way it is because of the passion you have for life. Life is indeed so special and we can measure it only against the time, the quality we spend with ourselves and with our near and dear ones. Work is important but life is also about enjoying things around us, balancing both is never easy and trading one for the other is never a good idea but if we enjoy what we do and do what we enjoy we change the entire perspective we have towards of life and living.

    So beautifully you have put it; we have ceased to love people and started loving the gadgets and the materialistic things around us, we have filled our house with so many stuff but it is an empty home, we have started comparing with others whereas it is only the comparison with self against what we were yesterday that matters…

    Indeed we all live in either past or future, never in present…yes “past is history, future is mystery but present is gift”, and we should all know how to cherish the gift and enjoy the life in present which is real not the past or the future…

    Very profound and very powerful thought…I am touched and inspired. I am sure this has come deeply from your heart, and you have passionately expressed it.
    Just loved it, take care and be blessed.
    😀

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    • I’m glad you enjoyed the treat, my friend! I always write from my heart, and I always want to share any bit of knowledge I have. The story of the person who died without making his dreams come true really upset me, so I wanted to share my vision of balance, in life.
      As you said, If your passion becomes your work, you’ll never feel like you work. But most people are not in this position. Most have to struggle everyday to find work, and earn more money. However, a balance is needed in our lives. We can’t neglect ourselves, on our way to make fortunes. The biggest fortune is our time.
      Filling our lives with material possessions won’t ever make us happy. At any given time, there’s a new gadget out there, a better looking furniture, a better house. You never know when you are done, in order to be happy. If we fill out hearts and homes with love, we can definitely be happy.
      Living in the present is very hard. We walk down the streets thinking about what we did, or what we have to do, never enjoying the moment, and the activity we’re currently doing. We’re taking time away from ourselves…
      Thank you for reading and for your wonderful comment. I’m glad I’ve inspired you, and touched you with my words. I wish you a lovely weekend, filled with beautiful moments! Cheers!

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      • The word balance is such an important aspect of life, how do we balance and how do we strike that harmony, passion is the most sustaining force of life but it gets dissipated with time and with age unless we keep using and nurturing it…we get so much swayed by daily grind and get lost in the routines that life becomes a challenge and we skip the opportunities…
        Yes, it is hard to live in present but is essential and art of living lies in living in present…life cannot be without problem and all problem may not have solutions and we should know how solve and if not accept the reality of life and many things in life doesn’t happen the way we want it to be…
        Wishing you a lovely weekend and stay blessed.
        😀

        Like

  12. Very true, and a good reminder. We have a saying in Norway: ‘Alle disse dagene som kom og gikk, ikke visste jeg at det var selve livet.’ Doesn’t sound that good when translated to english but I’ll give it a try: ‘All these days that came and went, I didn’t know they were life itself’.

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    • What a beautiful quote! Very true, indeed. That’s so close to Dutch 🙂 We waste so much time on the wrong things, sometimes we’re left with no time for the right ones… Thank you for reading!

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