Chapter 4 – Time Slips Like WaterDear future me,If you are reading this, I hope you have learned to hold time in your hands.Because right now, I let it slip like water through my fingers.I wake up in the morning and think, “I have all day.”And then suddenly, the day is gone.Not because something big happened, but because I let small things eat my hours.I sit, I scroll, I think about doing something, but I do not move.The sun sets, and I wonder where the day went.I don’t want you to live like this.You see, time is strange.It feels slow when you are bored, but it runs fast when you are busy.Sometimes, I think I have so much of it.I tell myself, “I can start tomorrow.”But I have said “tomorrow” so many times that I have lost weeks.And weeks turn into months.Future me, I hope you are not still making the same mistake.I hope you look back at each day and feel you used it well.I hope you do not carry the quiet regret I carry now.The regret of knowing I could have done more, learned more, built more — but I didn’t.Right now, I understand something I didn’t before.Time is not waiting for me.It doesn’t pause when I waste it.It doesn’t stop when I am tired.It just keeps moving, whether I move with it or not.I wish I could grab today and hold it tight.I wish I could freeze this hour until I have done what I wanted to do.But that is not how life works.When a minute passes, it is gone forever.Some days, I try to change.I tell myself, “Today, I will focus.”And for a while, I do.But then, my mind drifts again.A message comes, a sound outside, a small thought — and I follow it.Before I know it, I am somewhere else, doing something that does not matter.I think about the people who are good with time.They seem to move forward so fast.Not because they are smarter, but because they do not waste as much as I do.I imagine what I could become if I learned to use time like they do.I could build things I only dream of now.I could feel proud instead of restless.Future me, I hope you are not still dreaming without acting.I hope you know how to begin without waiting for the “right moment.”Because there is no perfect moment — there is only this one.I also hope you do not fill your days only with work.I want you to enjoy the slow things too — the tea in your cup, the sound of the rain, the smile of someone you love.Time is not just for chasing big goals; it is also for holding small joys.But you must choose them on purpose.Right now, I let the hours decide for me, and they choose nothing.When you think of me, remember this — I wanted to do more, but I did not manage my hours.Don’t be me.Don’t sit and wait for time to feel right.Because time does not stop for anyone.It will carry you, whether you steer it or not.So, future me — take it, hold it, use it.Make each day something you can remember with pride.I could not do it.But I hope you can.
