“Time flows like a river, it never returns”

The sentence “Time flows like a river: it never returns” It has a very ancient origin and remains valid in contexts such as that of Mindfulnessa recommended technique for reducing stress and anxiety that has gained tremendous traction USA in recent years.

The metaphor of time flowing like a river originated as an idea from Heraclitus of Ephesus (6th century BC). His most outstanding concept, summarized in fragments such as: panta rhei (everything flows) and “you can’t swim in the same river twice,” he emphasizes Both the flow and the observer are continually changing.

Heraclitus He saw the cosmos, powered by fire, as a symbol of dynamic change in which opposites, placed in tension, create harmony. The waters flow incessantly, they are not the same, nor do they allow permanence and therefore They break with the static idea of ​​identity and they anticipate debates about being and becoming.

This vision influenced Greek tradition and contrasted with that of thinkers such as Parmenides, who defended eternal immobility. Plato attributed the doctrine of total change to Heraclitus and thereby criticized the extreme relativism in dialogues such as Theaetetus.

As I said, the sentence compares Time with a flow in constant motion that sweeps away everything that comes its way and never stops. Just as river water cannot be touched in the same place twice, The time that has passed never returns. This symbolism emphasizes the importance of Live the present fully.

Modern philosophers such as Martin HeideggerThey reinterpreted this metaphor to link it to the to be there. In German this word means “to be there”. the place where being manifests itself. The privilege that the to be there Compared to the rest, it has an understanding of being, since humans are aware that we move within a horizon of meaning that is being, reality, what our environment, society, etc. is what it means to be in the world.

Against this background, Heidegger explains that the fundamental structure of existence is “to be in the world”. This happens because existence is implicitly connected to the world, as it cannot be understood if one is detached from it.

Henri Bergson defines time as durée (duration), i.e. as continuous flowqualitative and subjective in contrast to chronological time, which can be measured with clocks. This idea rejects the idea of ​​discrete moments that follow each other linearly and instead emphasize a living and indivisible experience Past, present and future are connected, as the site explains Atlangue.

For Bergson, then, duration is a fluid and heterogeneous movement felt intuitively in one’s inner life, while chronological time is a homogeneous abstraction useful for science but alien to lived reality, explains an article in the journal BBC.

• In an accelerated society, it shows us that the time we need is irreversible Adaptability and resilience in the face of almost constant change.

• In psychology it promotes Mindfulness Letting go of regrets, FOMO (fear of missing out), and fighting stress by living in the present.

• It can have practical applications such as: B. continuous learning in outdated professions, acceptance of temporary relationships and immediate action in crises such as those related to climate change.