Temporality: Your Time Is Finite, so How Will You Use It?

[DISCLAIMER]

If wishcasting was anything other than an irrational affair, I’d wish that I could revisit the era when classic Texas hip hop group the Geto Boys (lyricists Scarface, Willie D, and the late Bushwick Bill) released the album The Resurrection (1996), one of my favorite by the group.

The anthology featured the track “Time Taker”, which was produced by the talented Mike Dean, and subjectively served as a thought-provoking topic about life and death, as I transitioned from a boy to a young man at around that time (the point or period when something occurs).

Specifically, I contemplated the matter of time as a finite (having definite or definable limits) resource. Although I’d been raised with knowledge of life inescapably ending in death, I began to conceptualize time differently once I graduated high school in 1995.

To elucidate my experience, I note that Scarface stated in his verse, “As I open my eyes unto a new day, I see the same old shit that I was face to face with yesterday. It’s all the same, and I can’t change time—an example of a young nigga trapped up, and his brain’s dyin’.”

The distinction between the past, the present, and the future – all while my mind processed the fact that my body had been in a state of gradual decay since birth (i.e., “brain’s dyin’,” per Scarface) – became apparent to me. Still, I knew, “I can’t change time,” as Scarface stated.

Demonstrating why I consider him a lyricist rather than a rapper, Scarface further stated, “Why my life gotta have a yesterday? Why can’t I memorize tomorrow, and live my life as just a day?” This demonstrates the cognitive process of one whose perspective of time is examined critically.

Scarface continued, “A baby’s born and you hears moms cryin’. Is she cryin’, ‘cause she’s happy, or the fact that she know she gon’ die? Probably some shit we’ll never figure out. I think my mind is plotting plans, and my second mind is trying to take me out.”

This outlook accurately describes the reported experience regarding many of the clients with whom I’ve worked throughout the years. Once they realize that death is inevitable, in myriad ways, their minds purportedly devise schemes to address their impending death.

Addressing an unknown male figure with whom he conversed, Scarface then stated, “He said, ‘Life is like a game of dice. You roll ‘em right the first time, but you seldom get to roll ‘em twice.” On exceedingly rare occasions, people can roll the proverbial dice more than once.

As an example, an individual’s heart may stop beating, an automated external defibrillator may then be used to apply electricity which stops the cardiac arrhythmia, allowing the heart to reestablish an effective rhythm, and the person then gets to roll the proverbial dice twice.

Nevertheless, in arguably most cases, once a person dies, the dice may not be rolled again in this life. Or, as Scarface stated on “Time Taker”, “in this world we live together, but divided by a chalk line.” Apparently, the living remain separated by the dead in the thinnest of terms.

Finalizing his verse, Scarface stated, “You tellin’ me it’s gonna take you some time. How long do time take? I’m losing focus on this straight line, ain’t trying to wait for motherfuckers. So, now, I’m forced to take time.” In my opinion, this is where Scarface’s lyricism shines.

For context, one source states, “In philosophy, temporality refers to the idea of a linear progression of past, present, and future. The term is frequently used, however, in the context of critiques of commonly held ideas of linear time. In social sciences, temporality is studied with respect to the human perception of time and the social organization of time.”

In the end of his last verse on “Time Taker”, Scarface addressed how his time may be properly utilized. If matters in life “take you some time,” per the lyricist, then, “How long do[es] time take?” Scarface admittedly lost “focus on this straight line” of temporality.

For instance, one experiences an unexpected problem of a relatively large scale. In that moment, regarding temporality, one’s perception of time may speed up or slow down. As an example, I stated in a blogpost entitled BUSting Baseless Beliefs:

It was in either junior high or high school when a man—said to have been intoxicated behind the wheel of his dually pickup truck—slammed into a busload of children on our way to school. Striking the large yellow vehicle on the driver side, rear wheel well, the bus tipped over and rested on its side along a country road.

Though I recall the incident unfolding in slow-motion, I wasted no time with the evacuation process. I, along with several of the other boys from the children’s home at which I was a resident, carried many children off the bus and escorted them to safety.

I recall that event happening in slow-motion. This is an effect relating to the temporality of time. As well, I stated in the blogpost that “I wasted no time” thereafter, which aligns with Scarface having expressed “ain’t trying to wait for motherfuckers. So, now, I’m forced to take time.”

Regarding temporality and the content I’ve addressed thus far, I now invite you to consider that your time is finite, so how will you use it? When further contemplating this matter, I now turn to a book that I’ve been steadily reading.

As Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is informed by Stoic philosophy, this blog entry is part of an ongoing series regarding a book entitled The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman.

Shortly after graduating high school, I had no idea that a song from The Resurrection would one day serve as content for a blogpost. Looking back, that era seemed like it was only yesterday. Now, turning to The Daily Stoic, the authors thusly quote Marcus Aurelius (page 375):

You aren’t bothered, are you, because you weigh a certain amount and not twice as much? So why get worked up that you’ve been given a certain lifespan and not more? Just as you are satisfied with your normal weight, so you should be with the time you’ve been given.

Many people behave like time-takers, presumably living life on a conceptually linear path while self-distressing or self-disturbing about how relatively little time they have left in life. Yet, as asked by Scarface, “How long do[es] time take?” How much time should you have in life?

When reflecting upon the past, present, and future, do you ask yourself these relevant questions?  Addressing this matter, authors of The Daily Stoic state (page 375):

They say age is just a number, but to some people it’s a very important one—otherwise, women wouldn’t lie about being younger, and ambitious young men wouldn’t lie about being older. Rich people and health nuts spend billions of dollars in an effort to move the expiration date from around seventy-eight years to hopefully forever.

When reflecting upon the temporality of time, do you distress of disturb yourself with beliefs about your impending death? If so, even if you may somehow add years to your life, your body has been in a state of gradual decay since birth. You’re still going to die! You won’t last forever!

And why preferably should or absolutely must you? After all, you could die in a bus accident while on your way to school, or in a motor vehicle accident when on your way to work. So, how’re you using your time while you have it? About this matter, the authors state (page 375):

The number of years we manage to eke out doesn’t matter, only what those years are composed of. Seneca put it best when he said, “Life is long if you know how to use it.” Sadly, most people don’t—they waste the life they’ve been given.

Only when it is too late do they try to compensate for that waste by vainly hoping to put more time on the clock. Use today. Use every day. Make yourself satisfied with what you have been given.

Imagine that as the proverbial sands slip through an hourglass, instead of using your time wisely, you waste it by griping, whining, bitching, moaning, complaining, whinging, venting, etc. Is that how you’ll spend your finite time, as your body is gradually decaying when en route to death?

If you’re looking for a provider who tries to work to help understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life—helping you to sharpen your critical thinking skills, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.

As the world’s foremost hip hop-influenced REBT psychotherapist, I’m pleased to try to help people with an assortment of issues from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.

At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply trying to help you to feel better, I want to try to help you get better!

Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW

Photo credit, Designed by Magnific, fair use

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