Time, my friends, is about as relevant as a sermon in a crack house. Whatever is going on is going to go on with or without the soap box. The soap box just makes the process way more annoying for folks who is trying to get their uh…business…uh…straight.
I use the analogy of crack house and, thus, the inference of crack and, thus, by default, crack heads because I’m beginning to believe that we’re all addicted. To time. We’re all time heads. Crack timers. Time druggies. Time holders. Time head-ish. It sounds corny as all hell to try to make our addiction sound menacing and desperate, and yet. Oh well. It is what it is.
Sure. Right about NOW you think I’m about as nutty as a Snickers. I’m cool with that. Betty White is doing her thing right now.
You’re saying out loud (probably): “We all need time Envy. We need to know what time to catch our train or what time it is so that we aren’t late for work. We need to be on time for meetings and get our kids to soccer practice ON TIME. Envy (Betty)… time is important and without time we would be languishing buffoons wandering around without watches. What would we do if we weren’t to ask at least once a day ‘Do you have the time?’ We’d all spontaneously combust. Envy.”
Well, whatever. I don’t wear a watch. I can’t. They die within 6 months of my wearing them. Every single one. The makings of time hating. I’m thinking.
Anyway, I bring all of this up for several reasons. The first, and probably the most spiritual reason is my reading of Eckhart Tolle’s premier work “The Power of Now”. Truly, truly a transformative, interesting work. I would explain the premise, but it’s simply a book that needs to be experienced individually. My words would give it zero justice.
The second reason I bring up our addiction to time is the occurance of my beloved Aubrei’s Pre-K graduation today. I mean, OMG. Yesterday she was born and today she’s graduating from little person to “Kindergartner”. It’s more than I can stand.
A part of me was misty eyed watching my brilliant little “baby” evolve before my eyes as this amazing human being she will be when she’s 17 and graduating from high school. Wait. She’s 5. She’s going to Kindergarten next year (and a great one, mind you). How did I get from 5 to 17, whilst watching her at 5 performing the chicken dance? Time addiction, that’s how.
Did you know that our obsession with the past AND the future is one the greatest causes of suffering ON THE PLANET? We’re all searching for moments, past and future that will bring us some amount of peace and joy. Some amount of salvation from our current life situations that we totally miss where we are. It’s uncanny. I do it every single day and have for most of my life. I had a great moment some time before and I keep it alive by dwelling on it, trying to recreate it or trying to make a moment in the future just like it and low and behold, I never can and I’m always disappointed. Suffering. At odds with what is. Afraid my life will never be as good as I had it…once upon a time…
Or… those horrid moments, once upon a time. Somebody did something to me. I can’t let it go. It sticks. I can’t stop thinking about it. The pain. The sorrow. The drama. I hate that person! I keep the memory of a past long passed alive by my harping on it. My inability to recognize that while the last moment I experienced may have been fucked up, the moment I’m in is not THAT moment I was just in. Every second is a new second I can be free from whatever it was. Holy crap. It’s like magic.
Think about your own life for a second. Just observe for a few moments where your thoughts go: in your relationships, your career,any accomplishment, any dramatic episode–with whomever. How often do we harp on good and bad that has happened in any of these realms and wish to either stay there, recreate it or not let it go. Bitch, whine, moan AND complain. “Honey, we need to RE spark that love flame we had when we first met.” Huh? How long ago was that? How often do we allow our past or a fictitious future con us into believing what we have and where we are now just isn’t good enough? It’s never as good as the first time. Blah, blah, and blah. We live in an over glorified past or an over glorified future. Missing all the possibility of RIGHT NOW. That, my friends, is how time addiction works. And it sucks the very life out of our living our most vibrant lives every single moment we have.
Yes, we have to schedule and plan and create our destinies and what not. Yes, we look to the past as wise teachers so we don’t repeat past atrocities. But the moments we have are NOT meant to be a means to an end. This moment does not exist simply to get us to another future moment. It exists to be cherished, observed, lived, enjoyed. Even if it hurts. Especially of where we are right now hurts. Facing pain heals wounds and dare I say, evolves souls. (Let that one sink in a second. Take your time. hehehehe)
Most importantly, NOW is designed to be accepted totally and completely for what it is. Not good or bad. Just right now.
If I were Eckhart Tolle, I would have some profound and awesome fully present explanation to what all of this means for you and how to evolve past this icky time addiction and keep the presence of mind enough to keep present. Alas, I’m not Eckhart Tolle. But I can direct you to him. Sort of. I’d also like to say, I have some really great and awesome friends. That is all.
The moral of this story? I. HAVE. NONE. Just some food for thought. Thank you for reading this though. Peace and Abundantly “present” blessings. Love, -e-
Start here…
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
Practicing the Power of Now: Essential Teachings, Meditations, and Exercises From The Power of Now
