Soul 2 soul:

'Do it, just do it'

by Aditha Dissanayake

"Why are you in such a hurry?" muttered a young man when I rushed past him, on my way to the library today. I slackened my speed and glanced at him from the corner of my eye to see if I knew him to slow down for a quick Hi!

I could not spare more time than this because I had only twenty minutes before the library closed. When I realised I didn't know him, I increased my speed but muttered under my breath, "Of course I'm in a hurry. There is hardly any time to breathe".

In the funny way Fate always seems to co-ordinate things in my life, at the library I came across an article about running out of time. The words, "time goes by fast, when you are young, and crawls when you are old" stared at me in big, bold, black.

This got me thinking. I realised one day time will crawl for me too. I will no longer be able to walk half the length of the Duplication Road in two minutes carrying a bag overflowing with books or run after buses and catch them or have young men muttering things to me under their breath. One day I will have to take my teeth into my hands to brush them. I will have silver strands running through my hair, and my wardrobe will be filled with the kind of clothes the Queen mother used to wear.

I will be carrying a handbag filled with pills which I would have to gulp before or after every meal. I will consume less sugar, less fat, more fibre and more water than any other drink. I will have to go to bed to battle with insomnia after a light diet of vegetable soup, and eat pathola and vetakolu for lunch out of necessity. My bones will ache for no earthly reason and I might even find myself wearing diapers again.

But there will be the advantages too. I will be offered seats in buses, and everyone would have given up having high hopes on me. I will be free from the strains of needing to make a success of my life by having a prestigious career, studying for a doctorate, procreating, etc.

One day I will be one of the oldest living members of my family, and most of my friends will be dead. My end will be closer than my beginning and my nieces will soon forget me in the same way I have forgotten my great aunts and uncles. All these thoughts have made me decide to cherish every moment of the time I have right now. I will show my family how much I love them.

I will walk until the heels of my shoes wear out and write and write and write till my fingers will no longer be able to hold a pen, or my eyes be able to read the words on my computer screen. I will cherish every spoonful of my favourite ice cream and I will read as many books as I can and try to remember everything I read so that I will be able to recall them, seated in a rocking chair with nothing to do as life passes me by.

I am determined to make sure that one day I will remember the day I wrote this and say "It's good to have time crawling for a change".