Life's a Choice. Multiple Choice.

Photo by Steve Adams on Unsplash

I was in the 16th lap of my usual Sunday run when just in front of our house where I usually double-tap my watch to register a lap, an old lady walking in the opposite direction signaled to halt my run and asked for the time. I.Mean.Freaking.Really! I can think of at least 3 reasons why of all the people in the neighborhood out in the street that day, she chose me:

1. I was closest to her and to wait for the next person is an absolute waste of time which she didn’t have;
2. I was wearing 2 watches. Yup -my Apple Watch and my son’s Garmin. Although they are always on-point with time, they do not register the same of the other data that I keep track of in every run like distance, bpm, calories, etc. I usually go with whichever that gives the superior data. Running, after all, is supposed to make one feel better, right? Haha. Garmin provides also the music that the other can’t without the phone. The old lady must have thought I had extra time that’s why she asked if I could give it to her. And, finally;
3. She was hitting on me with that cheap pick up line, “Excuse me, do you have the time?” Yah, really cheap.

Now breaking a run for me is sacrilegious. But ignoring a helpless, time-clueless lady is a cardinal sin. I had three choices:

1. Ignore her. It’s the easiest to do. But because of the previous sentence, I’m shooting down this choice;
2. Continue running but backwards while checking the time, hope that she can still hear well despite her age and yell out, “six-ten!;"
3. Lose no time and without looking at any of the watches, give an estimate: “ahh, six-fifteenish!”
4. Tell her,  “It’s time to buy a watch!”
5. Stop. Check the time. Tell.

Photo by Agê Barros on Unsplash

I chose #3 in the first multiples and #5 in the second. I lost about a good 12 seconds that lap. Maybe even 13 if the wind shifted to my direction. A record run could have been broken that day. The  results would have made good IG and FB posts. But it would have left someone warped in timeless space.

Using the equation of motion, s=vt, I knew that the next minute, we’d cross each other’s path again. Lo and behold, there she was -all smile, floating in air, spinning like Maria in The Sound of Music, wanting to tell me, “Thanks. It’s 06:11 now.” That was a well-spent 12 seconds. I made one happy lady. It’ll be forever engraved in her memory.

If I could contain all pockets of 12 seconds that I’ve wasted that day, it would fill about a dozen trash bags thrown away into oblivion. Although I know I had a choice of not wasting them, I still chose to. Too lazy. Too tired. Too bored. Too three. Lah-di-dah. But those 12 seconds I managed well.

Many times than I can recall too many excuses:

It takes only 120 seconds to take out the garbage, but I’m still in the middle of slouching peacefully in the sofa;

Six precious seconds to pick up that dirt on the floor and drop it to the bin. Maybe later someone else will;

Half-an-hour to clean the kitchen counter while I have nothing else to do, but too lazy now. Besides, all the others aren’t doing anything as well;

Shoes on the floor, 14 seconds; 

Plates on the table, 75 seconds...

 

Many more times than I can recall too many protests running in my brain:

"Five more slides and this boring meeting is done. There is just so much to do after this (read: the new

 K-drama episode);"

"This homily is eating away my precious time with… with… some activity that has a name;"

"Dang this traffic, I can’t do anything. I can't think. I can't function."

Sometimes, the irony of it all is that we try so hard to save time that in the process, lose it. Crappy things that cause us to procrastinate or delay happen. true that. But when they do, don't allow them to undo you. You just need to focus on other things. For some people, it will be a challenge to re-focus because of hardened muscle and mental memory. But practice makes for a good lubricant the way WD-40 loosens up tightened screws.

A little effort takes an equally little time that can be enjoyed if doing good is your thing. You just have to be aware. At the end of each day, you'll find less of those trash bags of wasted time thrown away.

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