Tick-Tock: The Test of Time
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Tick-Tock: The Test of Time
John Paul Derryberry
The famous and game-changing comic book, The Watchman, has a single phrase that I love, "Tick-Tock." It's not note-worthy, long, or even central to the theme of the series, but it serves as constant reminder that the clock is ticking; it's always ticking. For the comic, it signifies a countdown to possible horrible events. For us, it signals a moment we can never have again and another second, minute, hour to no longer have opportunities. Opportunities to improve, to love, to recover, to create memories, or be the person we think we are in our own heads. I think about this fact often, maybe too often. I always harp on myself, and those around me: do not wish time to quicken its pace. I'm already the 90-year-old dude lecturing young people about how it goes too fast, except I'm 37.
Another fact not as universal as "Tick-Tock," but central to my focus on time, is 20 years, 27 days. That is the amount of time I have gotten more than Eric Bunn. Eric Bunn, a great childhood friend of mine, and I shared a birthday on August 18, 1982. He died in a car accident on November 12, 1999. Until that day, we had shared the same amount of time and mostly the same experiences on this earth. First kisses occurred in different games but within the same summer of hiding and go seek with the other neighborhood children. Now 20 years and 27 days, 7,332 days, 175,968 hours,10,558,080 minutes, or 633,484,800 seconds separate our human experience. I think about Eric and this fact often, maybe too often. It guides my actions more than anything else. Why did I get all this extra time and he didn't?
That is not a question I can answer. I don't know of anyone who can answer that inquiry with any clarity. Life isn't always clean and some answers will always elude us. What that question does do for me is sharpen my focus. I ask myself often, will this decision stand the test of time?Because ultimately, that's where all our choices play out. We make a choice that sets into motion ripple waves across our interactions with loved ones, co-workers, strangers, and friends. Eric's interaction with me in his short 17 years has fingerprints all over my choices.
As the tick-tock of time marches on, our selection betters our lives or worsens it. We make it easier for people to function or junk up the system. I'm guilty of both. We all are, and that's okay. We are human. But it's not okay continually to make choices increasing the danger of those around us and their future. Then, we do create a TICK-TOCK reverberating through our connections and timelines, causing lasting destruction into our next generations. Do our choices stand the test of time? My high school hairstyle, probably not, but my change in how I treat people hopefully does.
What I did with those 20 years and 27 days mattered, what I do tomorrow and the next day matters. This is not some rant about do not veg out on the couch and skip the extra fudge around the holidays. This is about how we treat our spouse, our kids, refugees, co-workers, nature, and the environment. Do we selfishly march forward with short-sighted actions not respecting that time moves on after we have gone, and our decisions linger within the next generations? Or, do we hear the tick-tock of time and realize we have a chance to make our world, the small part we inhabit, better. No matter how many more years and days I get than Eric did, I will respect that I get those days. Finally, when the tick-tock of my life clock stops, I'll have done my best to have interacted with everyone in a way that stands the test of time.