“If You Had 25 Hours A Day, What Would You Use the Extra Hour For?”

Nowadays, the rhythm of life is getting faster and faster, especially in cosmopolitan cities. The white collar work day and night as long hours as the manual workers in textile plants in the early days of Capitalism in Britain but little time to enjoy the welfare of economic growth; eat order-in food from fast food chains, or take-away meals from Chinese restaurants instead of well-balanced home-made dinners; contact friends more and more on internet messengers instead of saying hi face to face; are bombed by numerous information and trillions of choice in the face but hardly having time to think them through and make decisions.

With such a fast-moving ever-changing pace of life, if I had 25 hours a day, what a gift! Things always on my list but without deadlines, thus low priority and hardly done, all appears instantly in my brain: to read a book, classic or current best seller, every two weeks; to do exercises in the gym twice a week; to have more-than-30-minutes conversations with parents, etc.

When was the last time you read a book peacefully, recognized truth you had overlooked, and profoundly changed your values? Every day, in the age of information, we have to handle thousand of tons information (if printed on paper), proactively or passively. Every morning, we must check the mailbox to update ourselves with the latest news with news letters, keeping in touch with the current happenings in the world. During the work, we seek valuable fact and figures to verify or falsify the hypotheses we’ve made. After returning home, if still having spare time luckily, we are inclined to be a sofa potato, watching TV or downloaded entertainment to relax our brain. However, without refreshing our minds with wisdom passed by former generations or contemporaries; reviewing what we have done previously; and thinking forward on the future goals, we are not complete human beings with soul and value; we shall not succeed with unique insights of life and vista on future. Thus, the first thing coming across in my brain is to read a book every two weeks if I had the extra hour.

When was the last time you switched to a pair sneakers from the formal shoes, dressed in sports, jogged or did other exercises outdoor or in the gym? Health is a constant topic and almost everyone seems to understand the importance of health. However, we tend to overlook what we have and shall not cherish until we lose it. We seldom set aside time even an hour for exercising though merits of sports are cliché of cliché. Keeping in good shapes is not only means to be attractive but also to prepare for sustainable growth. In addition, sports, whether individual or team sports, make people happy, and energize people. Therefore, in two days a week, I would allocate my extra hours doing sports with my friends.

When was the last time you huddled in the sofa with your family in the cozy living room, had a free conversation with your parents more than 30 minutes? Family support is what most people have and thus neglect for most of time, just like youngsters’ attitude to health. We know that under the worst circumstances we have our parents to turn to. Nobody would deny it is one of our most valuable assets, but few people take time to maintain and cultivate the priceless relationship among the family, as it is always there for us. However, we should not choose to take our parents’ deep love on us for granted. At least, I hope to share the success of my achievements, making them proud of me as I’m proud of them, release their sadness, if any, and tell them everything will be ok just as they always comfort me. Unfortunately, I have seldom had long talks with them since my twenties. Consequently, the extra hour in some days of the week would be devoted to my family, where gave me life, brought me up and support me forever.

Back to reality, I shall not ever to be entitled to 25 hours a day as time treats everyone equally. But during the time I composed the essay, I realized how important mind-refreshing, keeping-fit, and family-talking are for me, and how eager I am to sponge the wisdom from books, to exercise my sluggish body, to hug my parents and share thoughts with them. Though without deadlines in face, though low priority previously, they are always on my list and will surly be accomplished from now on.