Try to imagine a life without timekeeping. You probably can't. You know the month, the year, the day of the week. There is a clock on your wall or the dashboard of your car. You have a schedule, a calendar, a time for dinner or a movie. Yet all around you, timekeeping is ignored. Birds are not late. A dog does not check its watch. Deer do not fret over passing birthdays. an alone measures time. Man alone chimes the hour. And, because of this, man alone suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures. A fear of time running out. ― Mitch Albom, The Time Keeper
Mitch Albom reflects on the concept of timekeeping and its overwhelming presence in human life. Unlike animals, which live instinctively and without concern for time, humans are bound by schedules and calendars. We constantly check clocks and plan our days, establishing a structure around the flow of time, which significantly influences our lives and priorities.
This fixation on time creates a unique anxiety that humans experience—the fear of time running out. While other creatures experience life without the weight of time awareness, humans alone grapple with the limitations and pressures imposed by time. This existential worry sets us apart, highlighting a fundamental aspect of the human condition as we are constantly in pursuit of moments, often feeling the urgency of life's fleeting nature.
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