Time

By: Kavya Karuppusamy

We begin to die from the moment we are born. We believe that we are living but in reality we are dying. Death does not begin at the age of fifty but rather upon our first exhalation at birth. Whether we view our existence as one of living or dying is our choice but either way there is an invisible sign hanging above our heads stating “Dead Man Walking”. As big as a sign advertising a broadway musical, lit with neon lights and bulbs flashing around the words to bring a specific emphasis, the dead man walking is as blind as he is dead.

Now the concept of time is one which may take a lifetime to unravel, perhaps time only seems to fade on our deathbeds. The hardest concept to grasp is that time is objective, it is man made and ceases to exist. Man is equally as blind as he is dead because he fails to recognize that death only occurs when believe time is running out. How could time be running out? You are here now, where were you a second ago? Can you go back in time and be exactly where you were or is it simply a recognition of where you were. You are here now, you were there then, but what the hell is then. ‘Then’ also does not exist. Where you are right now is all you have, did you even exist a second ago or is it just a memory of yourself that existed a second ago? 

Immortality is not achievable by the average man. To be realistic is to know that one day our existence in this physical reality will cease to exist. Whether you believe in heaven or hell, reincarnation and the after life, death is knocking on your door with each breath you take, so why not be joyous with each breath? Life only begins at the acknowledgement of death. One lifetime can feel like an eternity if we learn to perceive the concept of time. To know that yes, time is running out in correspondence to our inevitable end, but as a juxtaposition, time does not exist. Breath in. Breath out. Are you alive? Yes. Are you dying? Yes. So what will you do with your life now? Will you choose to live, or will you choose to die? Or, will you choose to recognize that there is no difference between life and death, that they are simultaneous streams running into the same river. So what will you choose?