Time can be an ally or an enemy. What it becomes depends

Hear now the wisdom of the ages, clothed in the words of Zig Ziglar: “Time can be an ally or an enemy. What it becomes depends entirely upon you, your goals, and your determination to use every available minute.” These words echo like the tolling of a great bell, reminding all who live beneath the sun that time is the one treasure granted equally to every soul, yet spent so differently by each. Unlike gold or power, which kings may hoard and beggars may lack, time flows in equal measure for all. What separates the mighty from the forgotten is not the abundance of time, but the wisdom with which it is used.

For time is a silent companion, walking beside you from the cradle to the grave. To some, it serves as a faithful ally, shaping their days into monuments of meaning and their minutes into steps toward greatness. To others, it rises as a merciless enemy, eroding dreams left unattended and burying potential beneath the sands of delay. The river flows, whether you swim with purpose or stand idle on its banks. Thus, Ziglar’s words remind us: the measure of a life is determined not by how many years it holds, but by how each hour is wielded.

The annals of history bear witness to this truth. Consider the tale of Alexander the Great, who by the age of thirty had carved an empire stretching from Greece to India. He was given no more hours in a day than any other man, yet his relentless determination transformed each moment into conquest. Though his life was brief, his time was not wasted, and so his name endures like thunder upon the mountains. Contrast this with countless rulers of longer reigns, whose days were squandered in idleness, leaving no mark upon the earth. From this we see: time, if mastered, multiplies; if ignored, it devours.

Yet not all victories of time are painted in blood and conquest. Look, too, at Thomas Edison, who failed a thousand times before he brought forth light from a filament. Had he despised the hours of failure, had he allowed the enemy of discouragement to claim his spirit, the darkness of night might yet reign. But he bent time into an ally, turning each failure into a teacher, and each moment into a stepping stone. His story teaches us that goals, pursued with unyielding will, transform even wasted hours into seeds of triumph.

Let no man think that the battle with time is only for emperors and inventors. The same truth beats in the humble heart of every mortal. To waste a morning in sloth, to delay a noble task, to silence the call of your own purpose—this is to let time rise against you as a ruthless enemy. But to greet each dawn with intention, to labor steadily toward the work of your soul, is to make time your greatest ally, a servant that multiplies your effort and exalts your days. The power lies not in time itself, but in the heart of the one who wields it.

What, then, shall you do with this sacred teaching? First, you must name your goals, for without vision, time has nothing to shape. Then, bind yourself with determination, for dreams without discipline are as clouds carried by the wind. And finally, guard each minute as a warrior guards his sword, knowing that once lost, it cannot be regained. Practice small acts of mastery: rise early, finish the task you begin, turn idle waiting into fruitful reflection or learning. In such simple acts, you forge time into a steadfast friend.

Therefore, let these words be a flame within your spirit: time is the soil, and you are the sower. What you plant in its furrows—idleness or industry, neglect or devotion—will rise to greet you in the harvest of your years. Make of time an ally, and it shall lift you beyond what you thought possible. Make of it an enemy, and it shall erode you until nothing remains. The choice is yours, child of the present. Seize your time, and in seizing it, you seize your destiny.