SSC Selection Post 2023 PYQ — Question 24

Read the given passage and answer the question that follows.

Time is the essence of life. It is the wealth given to us by God. Everyday all of us get 24 hours; nothing less, nothing more. Now, it is up to us how we use it. People who know how to make the best use of every moment easily open the doors of success in their lives and those who misuse time get failures one after the other. There is a saying that, ‘‘Spent time and spent words cannot come back.’’ Everybody is tied by the limits of time. Work wins appreciation only when it gets completed in a requisite time frame. Beyond the time allotted, work loses all its utility, however good may have been its quality. Just as falling of rains after the crops have dried up have no use; likewise, when the time is past the deadline, the work loses its importance and value. When iron is hot it can be cast into whichever shape we want. Once it gets cold nothing can be made out of it, however much we may beat the same. In the same way, a person who has learnt to wisely use his time and has understood how to cast himself according to the need of the time has actually learnt the true mantra of life. Shakespeare wrote in one of his plays, ‘‘I wasted time, and now doth time waste me.’’ It is true that a person who wastes even a little bit of time loses wonderful opportunities that he could have otherwise availed of by utilising that time. All the great leaders have one thing in common. They wisely utilise every moment of their time. When other people are busy in wasting time in laziness, great men are busy in making plans for the future. There is no person in history who wasted his time and still managed to achieve greatness. Therefore, there is great need to manage time wisely. ‘‘Careful Time Management’’ refers to careful planning of time and sincere execution of this plan. This is the only mantra to attain success in any endeavour. A simple change in outlook and some modification in one’s daily routine can result in a big jump forward towards greater achievements.