What is time? Time is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to compare the duration of events or the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change of quantities in material reality or in the conscious experience. (Wikipedia definition)
Time is man made, we have lived our lives by the moments of time and the experiences we have had in that time. We define ourselves in time by, our age, the feeling of not enough time to do the things we wish or time moving too fast or slow. We get up usually at the same time, we eat at nearly the same times each day and we go to sleep at the same time. Have you known anyone that must wake at precisely the same time, eat at the exact time each day and is constantly determining if they are tired by checking the clock to see if it is bedtime? Probably the only time most of us cease to be run by time is when we are on holidays and even then it is never far from our minds. In days gone by the sailors sailed and lived by the sun, the moon and stars, farmers rose with the sun and went to bed with the sun and they judged the harvest by the look and feel of it, not by how many weeks it was growing. They were much more in tune with nature and themselves and lived by their own rules.
Now we have deadlines to meet at work, at school and we have to be in a certain places at a certain time or we will miss out. We have appointments to attend, meetings to be on time for, children to collect from school or sporting venues, we have to be at work at a certain time and not leave before the appointed time. We have become clock watchers, rather than tuning into nature and ourselves. That is progress and can’t totally be changed I know as we have created our world and the fast pace of our world.
Have you ever tried to slow down time? Sounds ridiculous but it can be done. I’m not going to tell you to remove all clocks and watches from your house as we do have to live within society and I dont know about you, but people who are continually late irrate me to a certain extent, so I wouldn’t want to do that either. Have you ever set your intention before sleep and asked to be woken at a certain time? I have and it works beautifully. If you haven’t, then give it a try. Set your intention to 5 mins before your alarm clock, or even 15 minutes and see what happens. Keep setting intention until it works for you.
Have you had a day where you haven’t been able to do anything through illness, injury or just boredom? How slow does the day go then? See you can slow down time? There is exactly the same amount of time in the day, but when you do nothing it seems twice as long. How does that work? And I’m not suggesting we do nothing with our lives, cause that would be boring and life is to be lived and enjoyed.
Still the mind, when you allow your thoughts and mind to be calm, time slows. Our heads are so full of thoughts, 50,000-70,000 thoughts per day, this means between 35 and 48 thoughts per minute per person. Wow, no wonder we are tired and feel time poor. Most of those thoughts we have exactly the same every day, for we are creatures of habit. You will all have experienced that space, just before sleep, when the mind goes quiet so we can sleep. If we still our minds of unnecessary thoughts we can feel that stillness and time appears to suspend itself, even it only for a short while.
It will require some discipline to still the mind, to consciously let go of unneeded thoughts in every moment, but it can be done easily if you choose. I have noticed so many people having disturbed sleep patterns and having little or no sleep. I also have experienced this from time to time. A mind that is stressed, over stimulated by life and our ‘wonderful’ gadgets we are attached to, contributes to a disturbed sleep. If we were to practice stillness or mindfulness, then maybe we can reverse the sleep difficulties so many are experiencing. Mindfulness had its beginnings in ancient Eastern traditions, such as Buddhism, and is now taking hold in conventional Western therapies to help those with stress or mental health challenges. At its simplest, mindfulness is paying attention in a particular way to the present moment, without judgment. It means learning to rest your mind and body by focusing on the present moment.
Relax the body and mind at the same time and experience a sense of calmess and peace. Have you heard the term “Go Within”, well it is achieved by paying attention to the present moment, without judgement and allowing yourself to move beyond the distractions of the present world and into a feeling of bliss! Just for that time, allow yourself, to let go of the stress, the worry and just experience that deep sense of peace and contentment. The more you go to that place or bliss, the more you will achieve more favourable outcomes to the experiences of life. You will find you are able to deal with the pressures presented to you and find solutions, rather than sit in the problem.
Also in that place of bliss, you connect to a greater power than just your own power and you can allow yourself to become more creative. Some call it the “zone”, I like to call it bliss. Sports people, artists, musicians, authors allow themself to connect or step into their “zone” so they can create the best possible outcome of what they desire or want to achieve.
Each one of us has our own personal zone of potential. We all have the potential to be whatever we choose to be, to be better today than we were yesterday, to enjoy life rather than just suffer life. Maybe it’s time to sit in mindfulness and step into your own personal zone of potential. What will you become, who do you want to be? There are no limits to what can be achieved by yourself. Visualise your future and dream it into existence. You are an amazing being destined to be the best possible you. Don’t let time be your master, you become the master of time and live life by your conscious choices, not the constant thoughts of things already lived. Go out and conquer the world and have fun doing it. Make time your servant. All the time in the world to accomplish the things you desire to do.
