How Can I Best Use Time?
Time is relative. Our perception of it is variable, fluctuates, and changes depending on how much attention we are paying to it.
Einstein told us that time is an illusion. More specifically, he said, “The distinction between the past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.” Yet our whole society obsesses over these distinctions.
Last week, I wrote about my tendency to always put my work on conscious reality creation ahead of me. Not in the here-and-now, but coming soon or just ahead or some similar notion. All this week, I have written about how many people, myself included, use the New Year as a point of renewal. As I continue to work on crossing the bridges between my worlds, I am also working on defining just what my worlds are.
It is easy for me to make a case that crossing the bridges can apply to not just the different forms of writing I partake in, but in time. The past, the present and the future are often perceived as having either imperceptible or enormous gaps between them. More often than not, people see them as far apart, requiring, at the least, bridges for crossing.
Past, present and future, according to Einstein, are in fact non-distinct. They are an artificial illusion we have created for ourselves. Why? Because time is like a flowing river. Like the river, we have a need to find both its beginning and its end.
I have been working on better living in the now. This is particularly tricky. Not only because I struggle to not focus on the past or look ahead to the future. I am also torn between my personal and immediate now, and the now of our society.
“Time is the reef upon which all our frail mystic ships are wrecked.” – Madam Arcati, from Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit.
When I start scrolling through Facebook to read updates from my friends, I am also inundated with news. Some is biased, some is scary, some is infuriating…all of it is sensational. The headlines are meant to get our attention, and immediately set our emotions in action.
When I manage to fall down this rabbit hole, it becomes increasingly difficult for me to keep focused on the reality I want to manifest with conscious reality creation. When idiotic, childish madmen are making threats about deploying weapons of mass destruction, and uncaring, unsympathetic rich white dudes are only about making themselves richer, how can anything I want to create for myself matter?
I need to remind myself that what I want to manifest does matter. Why? Because if I want to make a difference in this world, I can only start by making my life as full as I can. To do that, I need to use my consciousness to create my reality, manifest my desires, and share it with you.
When, here and now, I see my dreams made manifest, I can share my process. Than I can help anyone else do the same. Even with the variables between what I want for my life, what you want, and what someone else might want, the process is no different. As I make it happen, I will be more capable to help others do the same.
I mentioned in Pathwalking this week that I was taking an online course from Jen Sincero in creating new and better habits called You Are A Badass at Habits. One of the things she talks about is how habits are more prevalent than we think.
“We only get to be in our bodies for a limited time, why not celebrate the journey instead of merely riding it out until it’s over?” – Jen Sincero, You Are A Badass
Habits are more than just smoking, over-eating and brushing your teeth. They also include the routines we do every day by rote. Or, to put it another way, habitually.
One of the dominant habits I have developed is to surf Facebook when my mind wanders. This inevitably has me reading more news that makes me feel negative, and as I feel bad my mind wanders further. Then, look at that, I am still not consciously creating the reality of my choosing.
The time has come to change this habit. Reading through Facebook, in particular when my mind starts to wander, is like stopping in the middle of the bridge. Not to look out at the chasm below or the clouds above, but to look at my own feet. Or worse, the screen on my phone, while ignoring what’s actually around me.
And that is the thing I have to keep in mind. While I can write about how I feel, vote in the next election, or partake in a protest, I can’t do anything more about the bad things I encounter. I can, however, work on what I am thinking, how I am feeling, and intentional actions I can take in regards to my own life. When I work on living better, I can impact others better.
This is not going to be an easy habit to break. But I recognize that I need to. Time will tell how I do with it.
As always, thank you for crossing the bridges between my worlds with me.
This is the sixty-seventh entry of my personal journey, the Crossing the Bridges series. My collectively published writing can be found here.
