10 Things to Do With that Extra Second You Get Tonight

Last updated on: June 30, 2015 at 8:13 pm by Kyle Roberts

10 Things to Do With that Extra Second You Get Tonight 2015-06-30T20:13:57-05:00 Kyle Roberts

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Today, June 29, we will all be gifted an extra second.

This “leap second” functions like a leap year, allowing the earth’s rotation to catch up with atomic time and preventing our clocks from getting thrown off centuries hence (or something like that).

Some have suggested that the our late-modern condition in the west could be described by the age of acceleration (see, for example, Alienation and Acceleration by Harmut Rosa). Not the literal acceleration of time, but the appearance of it–since everything seems to be moving very quickly and we seem to never have enough time. The rate of change and the demands of modern life leave us gasping for a breath, and in need of a long quiet walk in the woods or at least a brief nap in a hammock.

So here we have been given a gift by the gods of time-keeping: that one additional second will be given to us just before midnight, as the clock runs all the way to 11:59:60 tonight before flipping over to 12:00:00 AM.

If you aren’t sleeping then, what will you do with that additional second? (Or, if you plan to be sleeping, use that second sometime earlier tonight). The night is already getting away from us, so let me give you 10 suggestions:

1. Read an additional phrase, sentence, or paragraph (if you’re a super speed reader) of that summer novel.

2. Pray one second more for justice to take deeper root in the world.

3. Watch another second of the Daily Show online.

4. Confess for an additional second your pride, complacency, nationalism, white supremacy, greed, jealousy, anger, or whatever the Spirit brings to mind.

5. Hug your dog, if you have one. They need love too. Not sure about cats. Can you hug a cat?

6. Don’t check your email. You do that enough already.

7. Hug your kids, if you have them. If not, hug the nearest kid that you know well.

8. Hold/kiss your spouse or loved one a second longer.

9. Watch the replay of one of the two USA women’s goals against Germany.

10. Sleep.

Whatever you do, do it with a sense of gratitude for the gift of life–and for the gift of time. In an age of seemingly endless acceleration, it’s easy to forget how precious is the time we have–down to the last second.

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