“There is a time for all things.” - William Shakespeare

Lesson on TATAKalikasan, Ateneo de Manila University

87.9 FM Radyo Katipunan, every Thursday 11 to 12 a.m.

“There is a time for all things.” 

- William Shakespeare

Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend. – Theophrastus.

Dr. Abe V. Rotor

Co-host TATAKalikasan

Each one of us is governed by a built-in clock within us. Everything we do is “timed;” it has a schedule. And this living clock controls our actions and behaviors. It is the key to survival; a tool in evolution so that it is ingrained in our genes. If that is so, are our biological clocks then synchronized?

Author spends precious time with his grandchildren in their family home, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur  

Generally, yes. And that is why we all respond to common rules that society has set for us. We respond to the seasons of the year, each characterized by events we celebrate. We have standard working hours, and curfew. Weekends are set aside for rest and leisure. Summer means vacation. 

We observe three meals a day, coffee breaks, siestas, and the like menstrual cycle, estrus periods, stages in growth and development – all these are controlled by inner rhythms dictated by that biological clock. So patterned are our laws and rules that we know well the best season to plant or to hunt, to plan weddings and inaugurations, to travel, to go to school, to have a date, to meditate, to be merry.

Author's son Leo, tries Oriental recipes "for a change".

 Our biological clock varies individually,

but we have many things in common, as there are differences that spell our personality.      

There is a saying, “There’s time for everything.”                                                                                            

                                                                                                               

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every
purpose under the heaven.

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant,
and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down,
and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn,
and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather

stones together;                                                                                                  Talisay tree in autumn; 

honeybee at sunrise  

         

A time to embrace, and a time to refrain  from embracing;

A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep,
and a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and time to speak;                                                                                                                                               A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.   - Ecclesiastes

Yes, we are governed by inner rhythms which are classified into the following:

Ultradian Less than a heartbeat

• Fluctuation of energy
• Attention span
• Brain waves

Circadian (daily) day

• Blood pressure level
• Sleep wake cycle
• Cell division

Circaseptan (weekly ) about a week

• Rejection of kidney, heart, and pancreas transplants

Circatrigintan (monthly) about a month

• Menstrual Cycle

Circannual (annual) about a year

• Seasonal depression
• Susceptibility to some diseases

Living organisms take heed of their biological clock - except humans, in many cases. ~

Author takes a break with his students at the UST Graduate School on an educational tour in Amadeo, Cavite

We always aspire to be happy. "Laugh and the world laughs 

with you; weep and you weep alone."  (Emma Wilcox)