//restarts the instance
 public static void RestartInstance()
 {
     GetInstance().pause();
     gameTimer = new GameTimer();
     GetInstance().start();
 }
 //starts the timer
 public static void StartTimer()
 {
     if (gameTimer == null)
         gameTimer = new GameTimer();
 }
 //returns the instance of the timer
 public static GameTimer GetInstance()
 {
     if (gameTimer == null)
         gameTimer = new GameTimer();
     return gameTimer;
 }