DON’T PUT OFF TILL TOMORROW
We live in a world of fleeting time;
and time itself is defined as “what is
measured in minutes, hours, days, months, years, etc.
Don’t put off till tomorrow is an
incomplete proverbial statement. The addition of “what you can do today” makes
it complete.
Like all proverbs this one is also short,
pithy, truthful and illuminative.
Time is classified as present, past and future. Of these,
present is real. It is here and now but transitory. It does not stay even for a
moment. It changes into past in the
twinkling of an eye.
Tomorrow means on or during the day after
today. It is like a dream which may not turn into reality. Yet it is in the
nature of human beings to put off lots of activities till tomorrow---a tomorrow
that may never come.
Look at the following quote from
William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth:
Tomorrow,
and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps
in this petty pace from day to day,
To
the last syllable of recorded time;
And
all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The
way to dusty death.
Out , out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That
struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And
then is heard no more.
It
is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Here
is another proverbial saying: “Take time by the forelock.” This means be proactive. Seize every opportunity quickly
and make the most of favourable circumstances which are here before you.
To
conclude, a quote by the English author Francis Quarles (1592-1644}:
Make use of time if thou lovest
eternity; yesterday cannot be recalled; tomorrow cannot be assured; only today
is thine, which if thou procrastinate, thou losest; and which lost is lost forever.
One today is worth two tomorrows.
**********
G.R.Kanwal
28 April 2025
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