Time. One way of looking at it is by looking at your watch. Buying a watch is practically saying that you own a piece of time. If you have to buy your own time, what is it really worth? Especially if the watch is off by a few minutes. What about people wasting your time? Technically, their time is being wasted with you. What about the clock that has stopped 100 seconds before midnight? What about the Doomsday Clock?

Created in 1947, the Doomsday Clock is a symbol that represents the likelihood of man-made global catastrophe. The clock has been moved around several times, but on January 23rd, 2020, the clock was moved 100 seconds to midnight. The closest it has ever been since its creation in 1947. Yet our watches don’t move at the same time of the Doomsday Clock, and vice versa. So shouldn’t we all be moving our clocks closer to midnight?

Time is given and then taken away. Except nobody can own time. If you could, what is stopping you from buying somebody else’s time? People exist within time. A passage of sorts, here and then gone. One’s existence can spark a revolution. Bringing a multitude of people together for a greater cause. A unity that won’t waste any space in time, and yet, people still try to cut uptime, as if it were food.

Speaking of the individual, one should focus on recreating themselves and becoming a better human being. There is nothing wrong with that. It’s obvious that we all should do that. The real beauty with time is we can better ourselves and help others. Is it a challenge? Of course, it is, but it’s also an obstacle not to be a bag in a pile of trash. Think about all the times you’ve sat around and done absolutely nothing. You could’ve walked to the moon and back.

The real cause of the Doomsday Clock is the person reading this opinion piece. What have any of us done to turn back that clock? Not much, by reading the news. If annihilation is truly upon us, then the hands of humanity should come together and turn back the clock, but they haven’t yet. Everyone can agree that there is something greater than us. It could a deity, but the future is the deity the world should strive to save.

All of our time is connected with each other. Living simultaneously in the same space. So we all own time together then, like a shared contract. We can save each other or be the end of each other. It’s the cursing and blessing that we all possess. The choice to do nothing or attempt to make life easier for others.

The problem isn’t that we don’t have enough time, but that we don’t use the space we live in appropriately. Thinking about others really is one of the greatest tasks. The other people we should be thinking about, are the ones that haven’t taken up space yet. Why not worry about those who will be born with 100 seconds left on the clock?

What can everyone do to set back the clock? Getting involved is the answer, but you should really look inside yourself. Why haven’t you gotten involved? Lack of motivation, a great sense of dread, are you a nihilist, or maybe you have no idea where to start? Start locally. Build your knowledge around the problems at your neighbor’s doorsteps. Make new friends that can give you the motivation to go out and find new problems to fix. Acquire new knowledge and think about using it to solve other problems. We’re all just one blossom away from our greatest potential.

A blossom of potential can turn back to the clock. Imagine what a world of potential can do. If you just give away some of your space and lend a helping hand, you’ll really transform into something else. The world is only full of doom if you let it. But on the other hand, it could also be full of blossoming potential.