Another year has passed leaving many wishes and efforts unfulfilled. The acceleration of time continues, and with it, individuals, society, and the world rush tirelessly, thinking that they will solve their problems if they keep up with time. However, the story usually doesn’t end that way because as soon as one goal is achieved, the desire for another one arises, and the same, if not greater, hurry ensues.
Psychological acceleration of time is a global problem and a consequence of rapid changes in the circumstances we find ourselves in, which give us the impression that time is passing faster. We must learn to live in such a world, but we should not succumb to its negative characteristics and its accelerated current that carries us like inert logs. If we allow that, we will only be able to stay afloat and try to push ourselves ahead of the “logs” we collide with.
If time is money, as they say today, then we should spend it carefully and consciously decide what to invest it in. The ancient Greeks, who We have attributed great importance to time and have strived to uncover its mystery, and it can teach us about its utilization. Kronos, the god of time, was depicted as an old man with hair relentlessly mowing everything in front of him. Whatever his hair touches becomes the past, something that cannot be changed anymore. What remains after that is only a memory that serves us as a past experience.
Contrary to Kronos, the old time, there is Kairos, the new time that approaches us. Kairos is the youngest son of Zeus, the god of favorable and therefore fortunate moment. Kairos passes quickly and gives an opportunity only to those who grab him by the tuft of hair above his forehead, as he has no hair on the back. Therefore, Kairos can only be grasped while it is coming towards us, while it is approaching us. To seize Kairos, or to take advantage of a favorable opportunity, means to assess the right moment, that is, to act correctly and timely in the present moment. That is the secret of time – to know how to take advantage of it, and not to do as much as possible in the shortest amount of time. The Roman philosopher Seneca claims that life slips away from those preoccupied with empty pursuits, and that the greatest obstacle to living is the expectation of tomorrow, which wastes the present. Time can be gained or lost depending on what we do in the present moment.