I had never felt so heartbroken and miserable in my entire life. The painful sorrow, misery and loneliness struck me on that day, then I remembered, my grandfather had died on the same date. It still felt like yesterday although it had been two long years. The unforgettable, painful memory of my grandfather laying out there in the cold after a cruel beating was on my mind all day. So I turned to my huge unicorn teddy bear that my grandfather had given me as a gift the day before he died. And one after the other, my tears ran down my cheeks. And after a long cry, like Snow White, I fell into a deep sleep.

In a dream, although I could not clearly see what or who it was, what had seemed like a familiar person or shadow spoke to me and said, “Do not worry or fear where I am because I am in a safe place. Do not dwell on the past, but rather move on because the clock is always ticking. Time is unique and it is like no other. Time is a mystery, one can never understand how it keeps on going and never goes back or stop for anyone. About how in two full millenniums, it remains infinite. Time is not a clock, but a revelation to those who understand it.”

Time waits for no one, whether you’re rich or poor, whether you are the president, minister or Bill Gates himself. It has even helped us to understand the meaning of ‘late’ and ‘early’ because once you have missed the moment, it is lost forever. For example, you will never witness the time and 15h30m30s, 16 January 2020 ever again.

I have realised that time is like a fingerprint, there is one of each and never another. For example, some friend and yourself may be born on the same day, same hour but have different minutes, or attend the same meeting at the same hour but in different microseconds. I have realised that it makes each of us unique, to write our story because we are different after all, but like I said time is a revelation to those who understand it.

We may feel special and understand that time waits for no one yet be incapable of managing it. For we save time, we rob and get robbed of time, we lose time and we have all the time in the world, but no one has the power to stop the march of time. Many people do not know how to make effective use of their given time. That is why many people make stupid and reckless decisions and some die before their time because the trouble is, they think they have time.

Time brings everything to pass and the greatest healing is through time, my child. It may be painful now, but in due time it will pass. Time is free but it’s priceless. You cannot own it but you can use it. You cannot keep it but you can spend it because once it is lost, it is lost forever. Equal time is given to all and we all have to decide what to do with what is given. The key is….”

What had seemed like a shadow was my grandfather. I felt at ease knowing that I was unique. I have my own time, moments, identity and have my own story to write. My grandfather had written his story and ended it. At first, I felt so intimidated by the power of time, perturbed that time had such an impact on my life, mind blown by this revelation and amazed by the message.
I immediately woke up and planned what to do with my life, but then I remembered that the last line was incomplete. So I looked for any advice about time and keys, but I could not find any. What my grandfather said two years ago came back to me that the key is not in spending time but in investing it.

Tell us: What comes to mind when you think of time?