Even the notion of time passing us by can fling us into worry about all the time we’ve let pass by. What has been helpful for me in such moments is to remember that time cannot be wasted in advance, a sentiment I’ve borrowed from Arnold Bennett. In How to Live on 24 Hours a Day, Bennett writes, “The next year, the next day, the next hour are lying ready for you, as perfect, as unspoiled, as if you had never wasted or misapplied a single moment in all your career. . . . You can turn over a new leaf every hour if you choose.”
