Pathwalking 72
Time factors into so very many aspects of our lives.
So many of the things we do in our day are dictated to us by time. There is a time to sleep, a time to wake, a time to eat, a time to work, a time to play, time for this, time for that.
And of course, on the other side, there is a lack of time. Running late, out of time, too late, the time is getting away from me, there aren’t enough hours in the day, no time left, etc.
Then, just to add another wrinkle into this, we are a society of instant gratification. We don’t want it now, we want it ten minutes ago. The internet can provide us with answers to our questions instantaneously. You don’t have to go home to make a phone call – you just grab your mobile phone and dial. We want what we want as soon as we can possibly get it, and we often expect that will be the way of it.
Time, if we let it, can interfere with our ability to make choices in our lives. Because so many aspects of our lives feel effected by time, we often make time a limiting factor.
Time is nothing more than perception. Ever notice how sometimes an hour feels like five minutes and five minutes can feel like an hour? Time as we measure it in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks and months is also somewhat arbitrary. We adjust the “time” twice a year in the United States for “Daylight Savings”. Nothing changes, just the measure as we talk about it.
I am not anti-time. Time lets us perceive the past from the present and the future. Time is a part of how we see growth and change in ourselves and those around us.
But it is all-too-easy to be ensnared by time. We get caught up in looking at the clock so that we know when to go to work, tune in to that TV show we love, that phone call we promised at that time, and so on. And before you know it, time dictates every day, sometimes down to the most minute measure.
I used to be a clock-watcher. I still, more than a decade after regularly wearing a watch, have a faint line on my wrist from summer tans long ago. Back then, I always NEEDED to know the time. I needed to be able to glance at my wrist, so I could tell the time. I had to have the knowledge so that I would not miss anything at all.
And yet I was notoriously late for everything. Late for appointments, late for work, late to this that and the other thing. I was seldom, if ever, on time. I even joked frequently that I was never more than ten minutes late – and yet, late I remained, even with that knowledge.
Somewhere along the way, I decided that I no longer needed to always know the time. Sure, my mobile phone can tell me the time instantly, but unlike the watch frequently glanced at my wrist, I am not always taking my phone from my pocket and checking the time. And I am amazed by how much this has freed me.
I am much better at being on time to places I need to be. I also am much better about not stressing out about having to be somewhere at some time and such. And I am amazed how much easier it is to feel in control of my life now that I don’t let time dictate so many aspects of it.
And that is the trick. When you allow time and thoughts of timeliness or lack thereof, time will dictate your life in ways you might not even realizing it is doing it. Time becomes a weight, slowing and even dragging you down. Time is an issue, a problem, a tangible thing that must be acknowledged and dealt with.
But, like with all aspects of Pathwalking, we have control over how we handle and perceive time. We can use it to be where we need and want to be when we need and want to be there. We can make and keep appointments. Time in the right setting is an extremely necessary tool. Like pretty much everything else in the world, time is something best consumed in moderation.
The elephant in the room with regards to time and Pathwalking that I have not addressed is this: How long will it take? How long will I have to wait for the results of the choices I make by Pathwalking to make me happier? How long does it take for consciousness to create reality? How much time does this take?
It is a matter of perception. If you are Pathwalking, working to consciously create your reality, and care only about the goal – you have missed the majority of what Pathwalking is about. Choices are frequent. We make choices all the time. Pathwalking is about taking control of our choices as often as we can do so. Rather than let life make your choices for you, you choose them. And so, as such, time in this matter is irrelevant.
How long will it take? That depends entirely on what “it” is. But if “it” is Pathwalking, then the answer should probably be – the rest of my life. And that is not something to lament, it is something to celebrate. This is a joyful thing. Because I am a Pathwalker, and as I choose my life for myself, the answer is – I have all the time I need.
How do you perceive time?
This is the seventy-second entry in my series. These weekly posts are specifically about walking along the path of life, and my desire to make a difference in this world along the way. Thank you for joining me.
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