Every day we spend our time doing the same things, staying within our routine, not really paying attention to the speed of our lives. Yet, from another point of view, we live our whole lives in just a second.

We are constantly trying to live, but sometimes we forget to actually do it. If time goes as quickly as they say, what are we doing always waiting for tomorrow?

Daily, I see a large number of people sharing the same part of Earth in my beautiful city of Coronel Oviedo, but they are all living at a different rhythm. Some people are in a hurry, trying to do as many things as they can, but they don’t know that this isn’t the way. Other people are just doing what is necessary to chill out, but aren’t using their days effectively. Young people are full of energy, trying to get ahead, while children in the best period of their lives are enjoying every second.

I think that here, in my city, most people live a fast-paced life. In spite of that, they never miss a “Haupei” “Mba´eteko” (how are you). I firmly believe that moment of exchange is one of the best moments of our whole day. I like living here; I think that despite our faster pace of life, we live with a warmth that defines us. Every morning before I go to school, I hear “Good Morning, Steffany” from an elderly couple who live in front of my house. They have a little granddaughter who runs around full of enthusiasm every day; she is the one who gives life to her grandparents. Although the pace of their lives is very different, the family can still enjoy life together even though they live at different speeds.

Sometimes we think that 24 hours is not enough, and sometimes 100 years feels like too much and passes so slowly. Life is in constant motion; there is a big difference between the speed of life 100 years ago and the speed of it now. Often I like to imagine my grandparents on a sunny Sunday, drinking terere (a traditional drink of my country), sitting under the shade of a large tree. I imagine them watching their children playing trompo arasa (“spin a top”) or eating mangoes. They live in the moment, just appreciating each beautiful scene. Now it seems that life has hit the accelerator and everything has changed. Many times I’ve stopped and watched the busy life of my parents, seen how life has passed so fast for them. The moments worth appreciating and valuing have passed unnoticed, and through that I have realized how much the pace of life has changed.

All of us are trying to do the best we can with our lives every day. We often do not remember that time does not exist on its own, that it is abstract. One day someone gave numbers to our moments, our experiences, our memories, and our day to day. Life is now, life is always enjoying the good times, without hurrying, without paying much attention to how time passes. Life is living as if every day were the last day, so that we are not stuck always waiting for an uncertain tomorrow.