Time
I wrote this for a friend who said, “I think God making the clock run too fast for me.”
When I think of time, a Thai song came to mind, Puen tee lek lek (A Little Space) by BOY Trai, part of the song said, being an adult is not easy, not familiar of what I have to do, and I get so discouraged. I don’t have time left, to listen, to think of someone because I’m an adult now, what should I do? When the clock of my life spins a lot faster than the time in my heart, that I’ve lost a part of me, that little boy inside, where did he go? Why is he no longer with me today? Can I still have that little space, so I can be a kid again…at the edge of the sky, where dreams and reality meet, that little boy and I, holding hands and walking side by side.
Then I thought of a quote, “For disappearing acts, it’s hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of work.” Doug Larson
I often wonder about the 24 hours that we all have, Is it really true that we all have 24 hours per day. Why is it certain individuals have so much time to do things, for instance Darly, she accomplishes so much in a day’s work, there might be a secrete to her time management. She once made a comment on my blog that, “If only we don’t need to sleep, then we might have enough time to do all that we want to do. Our brain can go on and on. It’s our body that needs to rest, what a pity.” Sleeping might be the answer to our time crisis.
I remember when I was little, I’d stay up very late just to read, this used to upset my mom because she thought it was a waste of my time. Time. I don’t know if it was a bad habit, but I’m still about the same, either staying up late to read and write, or get up extra early in the morning, might be because it’s very quiet at night and I can think better. I discovered that I don’t need that much sleep, average of about 4 hours is good enough for me. Does that mean that I’ve more time than others? I think you can say that, to me sleeping is a waste of time, there’s so much that I can accomplish at night while others are sleeping.
Most people would sleep on an average of 8 hours because they need their beauty sleep. I don’t get that much, does that mean I look old, on the contrary, I actually look younger than my age, might be because I’m taking vitamins for my brain, while others are sleeping, getting their beauty sleep, I’m up reading and I discover that it’s the best vitamin for my brain, it’s like giving water to a plant. One of my co-workers told me that I’ll be young forever because I’m thinking all the time and also writing silly stuff, which I thought was not very nice of her to say, I take my writing seriously.
Then I thought of the 24 hours that we all have, which I feel that it’s not true. In reality, we don’t have the same amount of time, just like some that are sick and require to sleep a lot more, might not have time to watch TV, might not have time to socialize with friends, which sleeping robes much of their time and you can’t say that they have the same amount of time as me.
Another quote came to mind, “Day, n. A period of twenty-four hours, mostly misspent.” Ambrose Bierce, this I find true. I don’t watch that much TV, or Thai Lakorn anymore, in the past I watched too much and feel that those TV programs just feed into my brain, there’s not much interaction IMO, and in the past, I seemed to waste a lot of time doing this and had nothing to show for. So I spend less time watching TV, and spending more time doing things that I enjoy doing. I spend a lot of my time reading, listening to music, reading current events on the Internet, reading blogs, and writing blogs, I’m taking vitamins for my brain, which to me I’m spending my time wisely because it’s something that I enjoy doing. As for you, your recipe might be different; time is spent wisely when you’re doing something that you enjoy.
For some, there might be too much time that they don’t know what to do with, made me think of this quote, “Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them.” Dion Boucicault. Time seems to travel a lot slower when you’re sad but a lot faster when you’re happy, just as time flies when you’re having much fun.
How you spend your time is up to you, but most importantly, you need to ask yourself, Are you spending enough time doing things that you love?
Great music. I wish I can be a normal kid again. I never had a chance to be a kid and was forced to act like an adult at a very early age. I didn't have a chance to enjoy much of anything until I came here. Growing up I had to do multi-tasks and got a great deal of things done in 24 hours. Watching TV meant folding clothes and ironing clothes at the same time. Time is never to be wasted and no fun thing was on the schedule. Of course I didn't sleep much either (5 hours at the most) until recently.
I'm paying for all those years of hard work and not much rest when I got here. The first year that I was here, I slept 10 to 12 hours and was so tired and worn out from all those years of not sleeping, having to get up at night taking care of all my siblings while my parents were sleeping and the never ending chores.
The funny thing is that now I seem to run out of time and not have enough time to do things. I want to do so much but can't seem to get things done like I used to. If only I don't need to sleep.
In the end the key is to have a balance life. Too much of anything is not good.
Darly, you slept for 10-12 hours
I didn’t know that you could make up sleep.Lol. I do have to say that I had a normal childhood growing up and it might be because I’m almost the baby of the family, I still missed being a kid, if I act like one, don’t mind me. 
I don’t think that you’re running out of time, it’s possible that you’re taking on too many projects and instead of it being a hobby, then it becomes chores, if it sounds familiar, someone just lectured me on this not too long ago. I’m happy just to get my 4 hours of sleep, if I can function with less, I would, but I’m afraid that I might mutate into a new species that don’t require any sleep, I’m afraid to find out what it looks like. 
Yes, I didn't know either until I got here. I also started to get sick on a regular basis, like catching a cold or a flu. I guess my body became weak of not enough rest all these years. The one thing I wanted most for so many years was good few hours of sleep. I didn't get much sleep since the birth of my youngest brother in Laos since I had to be the one getting up to take care of him. When I was in school, I kept falling asleep in class. Sometimes I had to take my brother to school with me because the day care didn't want to take care of him since he cried too much.
My mother was doing her doctor residency in a remote village somewhere in Laos for more than a year so I had to do everything by myself with the death of my sister. Then when we came to the US, my youngest sister was born and so the vicious cycles started all over. With one parent working during the day and one at night, it was me that had to get up and take care of the baby and even when she was going to an elementary school. I had to dress her and feed her and everything around the house.
Yep, it's the same whining story that I keep saying and saying all over. I found time for myself while doing things. What I had those years were staying up late at night reading books like you, it's nice and quiet at 2:00 AM and I tend to do my best late at night an early in the morning.
I don't mind the cleaning like doing dishes and cleaning the house because I think when I do those things. My hands would be scrubbing but my mind was somewhere else, day dreaming about better future and what I want with my life or thing about the past.
The only bad thing is that I can't sleep walking while doing those chores. That would have been nice.
These days I get about 6 hours of sleep I think. Still have enough energy to do things so that's good enough for me. Too much sleep gives me a headache. I can't take a nap in the afternoon either because I would wake up and be really cranky, LOL.
That’s a lot of responsibility for a kid, I believe you came to the US about the same age as me or might be a year older. When I was little, I had to help with chores around the house, but it’s expected of us, imagine eight girls. When I was in Thailand, my job was to help take care or baby sat the 2 buffalos that we had, it was my younger sister and I, but I think the buffalos took care of us because we couldn’t swim and they took us across the lake, and we pretty much rode on their back the whole time, it’s nice view and so many exotic flowers that we saw in the forest, there were wild fruits that we’d pick and eat, we learned by watching the birds, if they’d eat, then it’s safe for us to eat also, thinking back, I think I had a very happy childhood, poor, but definitely happy.
I think most kids in Laos or in the third world countries are forced to grow up too quicky. That is life and while we can't go back and change the past we can change the future. We can make sure our children will have a better life than us.
I hope I didn't sound like I was crying over spilled milk. I am happy with how things turned out for me. I know how to take care of myself.
No, you didn’t sound like a crying baby, but more like my oldest sister, she sounds just like you.
Hahaha. The stories of being the oldest sister or oldest girl in the family. Funny how oldest brothers are not expected to do much of anything and get to go to school only.
We should have like an oldest sisters club for Lao women and trade stories and publish a book, an E book that is so not too much publishing cost and anyone can just download and read it.
When we are in Laos, then maybe I'll trade some stories with you. Just maybe.