📜 A Letter to Time – Read It
We spend it, lose it, and long for more. But what if we could speak to it?
Open the letter time will never read.
Time is precious. Unconquerable, free, yet fleeting. It is everywhere and nowhere, an everyday miracle we barely notice—until it slips through our fingers.
The poem above is a piece I originally wrote in German as a poetry slam. Translating it was like peeling back another layer of meaning, forcing me to reconsider:
What does time truly mean to me?
For me, time is the most valuable currency we possess. It cannot be saved, it cannot be earned back, and once spent, it is gone forever. And yet, as a society, we treat it as if it were limitless. We exchange it for money, for obligations, for things that, in the grand scheme of life, might not even matter.
I see people rushing from one responsibility to the next, their days packed with tasks that leave no space for real moments. And I wonder: Do they realize what they are sacrificing? Do I?
I don’t want to look back one day and realize that my time was wasted on things that didn’t touch my soul. I want to tell stories of breathtaking moments, of connections, of experiences that shaped me—not of endless work hours or chasing superficial goals that society told me were important.
Time: A Gift or a Curse?
Time is the one thing we all share, yet none of us truly own. It moves forward, indifferent to our desires, immune to our regrets. We try to manage it, to control it, to make the most of it—yet how often do we stop and truly ask ourselves:
- Are you spending time, or is time spending you?
Are your days dictated by genuine purpose, or are they merely a routine shaped by expectations, obligations, and societal norms? Do you choose your time, or does it choose you? - If all the time you’ve already lived was played back to you, would you watch it proudly or feel the weight of what was lost?
Imagine your life as a film. Every moment—how you spent it, what you valued, what you sacrificed—replayed before your eyes. Would you cherish the memories, or would you wish for a second chance? - How much of your time is truly yours?
Strip away work, responsibilities, distractions. How much time do you actually own for yourself—time that is untouched by pressure, demands, or expectations? And if the answer is “very little,” when will that change? - Do you live by urgency, or by meaning?
Are you chasing a deadline, always waiting for “the right time,” or are you making time count now? Are you postponing happiness, waiting for a future moment to finally “start living”? - If you had only one hour left, what would you do? And why is that not what you’re doing right now?
When the illusion of unlimited time fades, what truly matters comes to light. Would you change your path? Say what needs to be said? Do what you’ve always postponed? If yes—why wait?
Time is not something we can save in a vault for later. It is a currency we can only spend in the present. So, the real question is:
Are you investing it in something that truly matters?
