Who am I

Once upon a time, I was born. I was born out of nothing and will pass into nothingness. I existed when you didn't and will do so when you pass away. You cannot touch me nor see me, yet you can sense me when I pass you. I am no breeze, for I am responsible for both ephemeral and eternal.

I lie between where you are now and where you want to be when you depart. You cannot conceive of me, yet you experience me. I am independent of you and yet you cannot survive without me. I come, but only once and yet I come every now and then. What you make of me will determine what I make out of you. If you take good care and treat me well, I will always be on your side. If you ponder about my future or my past, I will never be on your side.

Philosophers have written about my paradox, and scientists have tried to measure me. Artists have tried to paint me in their hues and astronomers seek my origin and end. But part of my paradox is that you can never know when and where I was born. I also have a twin sister. Though, I don't know who came first, my twin sister has gone where no one has and we have traveled together.

I bring you joy and grief, and yet I take them away with me when I pass by.

Some think I am money, yet I come and go free. Even if you have nothing, you may still have me. Some think they can create wealth out of me, yet I create their entire value. Some say I am linear, some say curved. Some think I am cyclical and others that I am neither of the three. I am both an illusion and a reality, both young and old, both discrete and continuous. You have not known a bigger paradox than me for all the paradoxes are contained in me.

Some say they no longer have me, but when did I ever belong to anyone? Some say I am changing, yet I have stayed the same. Some think they understand my nature, yet I have remained elusive since I was born. Some have found me in the stillness of the mind, yet I cannot come to a standstill. I cannot peek into the future for the future is created by me. I cannot go back into the past for I know not how to turn back. The words inscribed on a wooden bench in Hampstead Heath, perhaps, sum up my entire story.

“I was born tomorrow

Today I live

Yesterday killed me.”

Can you guess who I am?