03/06/2023
I need more hours in a day. How is it already Friday? We all have the same hours in a day. Time viewed through the lens of scarcity or abundance.
We are always running out of time and there is never enough time. And we certainly mustn’t waste time.
The power of mindfulness. Oh no, not that word again. Mindfulness is curious and noticing things. It slows down time.
Taking a moment to acknowledge the information your senses are transmitting to you - sights, sounds, tastes, touch, smells - stops your brain thinking about what happened yesterday or what you need to do tomorrow, and brings you right into the here and now. Try it and feel everything slow down.
It's one of the reasons we love vacations so much because we are mindful and living in the present moment.
Gratitude journals before bed helps to slow time. You actively recall, replay and write down what happened, means those moments are seen and acknowledged.
And when you punctuate the passing of time with lots of different things - be they big or small - time morphs from an undefined haze of blurred vision, into a medley of moments with shape and form. And it starts to feel slower. You recall it, replay it, write it.
Back to the lens of scarcity or abundance. In the Western world we generally perceive our lives to be finite and with a fixed end. As an extension of this, time is viewed through the lens of scarcity and the language we use is key to our relationship with it.
This contrasts with philosophies from the East where time is more often viewed through the lens of abundance.
There is a Buddhist-inspired affirmation I like to remind myself of during my more frazzled days:
“Life is eternal, so there is no need to worry and no need to hurry.”