A dear friend and long-standing colleague recently engaged me to read and assess his book manuscript, as a matter of urgency, just as I was departing for a family holiday. My schedule was pretty full, but I wanted to help, so I decided to experiment with expanding, extending and transcending time.
‘I don’t have time’ could have been my response, ‘I’m far too busy’. But I know that I can make time for the things I choose to do. And I also have a policy of not describing myself as busy, because again, I will always find time for the people and activities I love. It might require some dancing around schedules, but it’s possible. And that never feels like ‘work’, because I love what I am doing, and what simply ‘is’.
It’s a paradox that time can apparently pass at different rates for the same person in the same space but with a different mindset. The one who is fully engaged and enjoying what they are involved in finds time whizzing by rapidly; but if you’re bored and uninterested, time drags slowly by and feels interminable. Same minutes and hours, different outlook, different outcome!
I pondered how we usually only procrastinate about what we are reluctant to do … then thought, is that true? Do we? Do I?
What about those juicy, fulfilling projects that could transform many lives including our own? Do we always press on with those, and finish them off promptly, or does their importance and consequence bring up doubts, fears and reluctance because they might just lead to great change?
Sometimes change, welcome or unwelcome, makes us uncomfortable, so we shelve activities and make excuses in order to stay the same. It’s a bit crazy, really, because we and our world are changing constantly, ceaselessly, with every breath, every action, every thought and feeling, so we might as well just get on with it. And still, sometimes, we resist.
Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to learn how to alter my perception of time, to play with the past, present and future, and to understand how I can create shifts in time and space to make sure things happen ‘just in time’.
The old saying ‘time flies when you’re enjoying yourself’ certainly applies, as the days fly by, sometimes with groups of people also exploring a type of time travel – without an obvious Tardis, more of a ‘build your own’ time machine approach! And it is time well spent, highly productive and rewarding, for sure.
Simply being in and of the moment, or present, is a great start. Enjoy the gift of now, today, this once and only opportunity to relish life itself.
Like the cherry blossom in the photograph here, it is only on the tree for a very short time, and the sunny day and clear blue sky when I captured it were near perfect – a few days later, high winds and rain had reduced its glorious show, until next year.
If you would like to explore more, about bending time, or want guidance on writing your book, leave me a comment below.
Christine Miller
Christine Miller says
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