VALUE EACH MOMENT

TOJY MANDAPAM

Everyone is familiar with the adage, "time and tide wait for no man". Our life is made up of a fraction of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years. We should utilise each fraction of our time well.

John Erskine, author, professor, and lecturer had said that he learned the most valuable lesson of his life when he was 14.

His piano teacher asked him for how long he had practised. The boy replied that he practiced for an hour or more.

"Don't do that," warned the teacher. "When you grow up, time won't come in long stretches. Practise whenever you can — five or 10 minutes before school, after lunch, between chores. Spread the practice through the day, and music will become a part of your life."

Erskine stated that the observance of this advice enabled him to live a comparatively complete life as a creative writer, outside his regular duties as an instructor. He wrote most of Helen of Troy, his most famous work, while commuting to work.

Time management consultant Anotonio Herrera asked the participants in a seminar: "If we had to buy time, would there be any difference in how we would spend it? Would the days of our lives be used more wisely? What if you had to pay an advance of Rs. 1000 an hour for the time allotted to you? Would you waste it?" The answer should be obvious.

Time is precious. It is not to be wasted. Ruskin says, "Time is more precious than any other precious stone." A moment lost is lost forever. So value each moment, as this poem so beautifully communicates:

To realise the value of one year,
Ask a student who failed in his or her final exams
To realise the value of one month
Ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby
To realise the value of one week
Ask an editor of a weekly magazine
To realise the value of one day
Ask a daily wage labourer who has six children to feed
To realise the value of one hour
Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet
To realise the value of one minute
Ask a person who missed his train
To realise the value of one second
Ask the person who survived an accident
To realise the value of one millisecond
Ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.