The understanding of time has been one of the greatest riddles that have fascinated mankind throughout eternity. Time is the basis upon which we comprehend our lives and structure our thoughts, however I do not think that human beings have fully grasped the reality of time. We have slapped definitions on time and tried to make sense of its flow, but its true nature has eluded us.
A few thousand years ago, we finally put together calendars that made a framework of time based on the cycles of the sun, moon and stars. A few hundred years ago, we invented clocks and watches to keep track of the minutes and hours of a day. Only in the last couple centuries have the majority of the world started paying attention to precise timing based on mechanical devices.
Some people think that time is a frivolous invention of mankind that is simply an inaccurate way of structuring our universe. Other people think that time is a universal constant that governs our reality. Our basic intuition leans us towards the latter explanation, but deeper analytic thinking pushes us towards the former. Philosophers have contemplated its meaning, Einstein portrayed it as an unseen dimension, and modern scientists have come to question its linearity and regularity.
Regardless of the true definition and significance of time, we must admit its stranglehold that it has on how we live our lives. Everything that we do is based on the organization of time and how we utilize it. From birth to death or from sunrise to sunset, the use of our time on an efficient schedule is imperative to maintaining a functional life. Especially in western civilization, we have become slaves to time and dedicated all our mental and physical resources to taking full advantage of every second. This obsession with time has led to wonderful things. Unparalleled efficiency and punctual rigidity has led to the booming of a wondrous society that exponentially grows in technology and functionality. Businesses run smoothly and yield high profits, schools instill loads of knowledge and cultivate productivity, construction and infrastructure stretch out and connect the corners of the globe, innovation continuously strives to better our lives and move our society forward. All of these things are possible because of our adherence to proper planning and harnessing the power of time.
On the negative side, our preoccupation with time is also the root of most of the mental anxiety and depression that plagues our lives. Recalling regrettable past actions and remembering tragic events is often at the core of our feelings of sadness and guilt. Thinking about the past festers old feelings and transforms them into monsters that haunt us forever. But imagining the future has a much greater effect on our current mental health. Worrying about how things will work out in the future, near or far, is the main cause of anxiety and stress. Freaking out about how things might potentially transpire takes up hours of our mental thinking time. We create potential scenarios in our mind, accept them as true and then go bonkers panicking about it. The majority of the time, the actual of the events of the future are much different from the fantasy worlds that we created in our minds, and sometimes turn out a lot better. Regardless of how our life actually unfolds, we wreck our nerves by stressing out about the future. Time obsessed people might be effective in their undertakings, but they might also be miserable in their minds. (see Stumbling on Happiness, by Dan Gilbert)
However, there is another way to deal with time. You can forget about time and just live your life as it happens. Follow the sun to determine your day and the your feelings to dictate your actions. Maintain a vague conception of the time, but use it only as a general structure to organize your work. Do not fret about the future, or agonize about the past. Live in the present moment. Be here now.
This general philosophy of time has been advocated by spiritual leaders, clinical psychologists, and the people of Chuuk. Islanders in the Pacific have a much different conception of time than the standard western view. This is a troubling issue for most foreigners to grapple with and leaves many people frustrated and disillusioned. It infuriates us to wait idly for hours because someone missed a meeting, it baffles us to see a project drag slowly along and fall behind deadlines, it saddens us to see potential wasted by inefficiency and laziness. The developing islands of the Pacific, especially Chuuk, suffer immeasurably on an economic and political scale due to this ignorance of the formality of time.
On the other hand, their purposeful ignorance of time has many positive ramifications on their overall wellbeing. Despite the setbacks caused by inefficiency, people are happy. As long as their basic needs of food and shelter are met, the accumulation of material goods by exhaustive work is not a top priority. They are content living life at slow and leisurely pace. Things get done around here, it just takes a little longer. Hard work is a highly valued personal characteristic and I have been surprised by the intensity and determination of the local people’s work ethic. But that high octane pace of work doesn’t go around the clock.
There is an infamous saying around the islands that goes something like, “ I’m not late, I’m on Chuukese time”. Chuukese time doesn’t necessary imply lateness, it just means that exact time is ambiguous. When a Chuukese person tells you that they will meet you at 3 o’clock, they really mean that they will meet you sometime in the late afternoon between 2 and 4. If they tell you that it only takes 30 minutes to walk somewhere, they really mean that it takes anywhere from 10 to 100 minutes. When they write on the schedule that school will begin at 8 am, what they really mean is that it will begin around 830ish.
They do not intentionally deceive each other with false time predictions and faulty schedules. Time is just a rough approximation of reality. Their minds don’t attach the same significance to punctuality and efficiency as us westerners do. Those are imported ideas that are slowly infiltrating their way into the islander mindset. I think the acceptance of the importance of time will follow the same schedule as everything else in Chuuk… it will take a long time.
Placing value on time is a double-edged sword. There are good and bad things about following either the “hurry up” or “chill out” mantras. Sticking to a strict schedule allows for efficient success and high productivity. But if you place too much value on time, you end up as an anxious stress case that lets life zip by without taking the time to smell the flowers. Going with the flow of things and taking a relaxed attitude towards life will allow you to be happy and appreciate each day. But if you disregard the ideas of timeliness, opportunities will be floundered and progress will be hindered. It depends on what you care about the most in your life: relaxation and happiness or success and efficiency.
Our interaction with time determines the course of our lives, and its our personal decision about the nature of that relationship.
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