Life is like a Jenga Set

Written By Chia Poh Fang

Life is like a Jenga set.
There is a fixed number of time blocks to each day.
24 hours to be exact, 1440 minutes in detail.
Nothing more. Nothing less.
It is a fixed asset that we have to juggle daily.
We all play the game. Every hour. Every day.

We divide our day into fixed time blocks.
30 seconds for us to cross the roads.
5 minutes for the train to arrive.
1 hour to grab a quick bite, and chitchat with colleagues.
9 hours of work, 7 hours of sleep.

We move time blocks around and put them in new places.
But once a time block is shifted, another part of our life is affected.
This adds pressure on some time blocks, but loosens up others.
No time block stands solitary on its own; each will inevitably affect the others.

There’s an inherent problem in managing time like a Jenga game.
The game deludes us into thinking that we are building,
When it is actually about destroying.
It is a game that undermines the foundation,
And as the game proceeds, time becomes a tougher balancing act to keep.

Let’s change the rules of the game.
Instead of taking out time blocks and stacking them back on the top,
We should take them out to build a new set.
In this way, the game will continue and not end.
So for each time block that I take out, I can ask myself:
Is it for constructive purposes or is it destructive in nature?
Am I using time wisely or am I wasting time?

“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise,
making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”
—Ephesians 5:15-16

Photo credit: Claus Rebler / Foter / CC BY-SA