Time
Mood:
bright
Topic: Essay
Time
by Dick Sutphen
"The greatest resource you have is time -- you either spend time or you waste it. Spending time means using it constructively, profitably and ideally in a way that is fulfilling to you. Spending time might be working toward your success, a dinner with good friends or sitting and doing nothing. Wasted time is any time spent with people you don't enjoy. Time spent doing busywork without benefit is also wasted.
Time is the most precious thing you have. When you allow people to waste your time you let them steal your life. We all have the same 1,440 minutes per day, but this time is lost forever unless you invest it in your future -- by acquiring knowledge, learning skills, making business contacts or enhancing your personal life.
You don't have to respond to the demands of others. Only your value judgements keep you spending your time the way you want. How you decide to spend time had everything to do with the quality of your life and the level of success you can expect to attain. Meditate upon any changes in the way you spend your time that would serve you." From The Oracle Within by Dick Sutphen (c.1991)
Molly's comments on time:
I have the utmost respect for the writings and wisdom of Mr Sutphen, however, I have a vastly different outlook on this subject, and of course i'm going to share it!
We as Spiritual beings having a human experience possess a devastating view of time. Devastating because we see the ticking of the clock as limited; 24 hours in a day, 365 days in a year, 80 years in a lifetime if we are one of the lucky ones. We foster the fear that we can 'waste' time (in some instances maybe it could be better spent, but is it really wasted?) and as a result, sicken ourselves with overwork, overplay or inertia. The assumption of the accuracy of human timekeeping stunts our potential and leads to restricted thinking and living.
Let's all think about this for a minute and ask the question: does time as we know it truly exist? By 'time as we know it' I mean our days, clocks, calendars and every other method we use to measure it. In the interest of science (not really, but doesn't that sound very official? ) I strode over to dictionary.com to find one general statement to define time. Here was the first entry:
'the system of those sequential relations that any event has to any other, as past, present, or future; indefinite and continuous duration regarded as that in which events succeed one another.'
Well, first I said 'huh?' because it's early (that supposed time thing again) and I am still drinking my coffee! When I read the definition again though, and to my surprise, it said nothing about timepieces or regulatory measurements of days, weeks and years (other entries did, but not this one). It talked about time as the relation of events to eachother in past, present and future, and used the words 'indefinite and continuous'. Hmmmm...well, at least some scribe writing for dictionary.com has the idea!
But wait, with this new confirmation of non-limitation the question becomes: if time is 'indefinite & continuous', why are we so worried about not having enough of it? Why do schedules drive our lives? Why do we insist on seeing stifling increments rather than total limitlessness? The answer (well, my answer, please feel free to come up with your own): because that is what we are taught; to live by a schedule, to view death as the great thief of time and to relegate ourselves to something man designed to fulfill his need for structure. All I can conclude is that 'time as we know it' is one, grand illusion. Besides, dictionary.com says so!
Now, am I suggesting that everyone toss out their alarm clocks and Timex watches? No. In doing so, we would be denying an integral part of our human experience. But why not, just for a bit, live without time? Put your clocks out of sight, turn off the tv and just be in the proverbial 'moment'. What you will find is a taste of the limitlessness that is your Divine Self. Take this feeling back into the world of measured 'reality' and utilize it to relax and relieve the pressure of mantras like 'I just don't have enough time'. Know this, you have more time than you could ever possibly expend. It is infinite.
Thanks for taking the time (ah the irony, lol) to read my thoughts and I welcome any comments on this subject! Please contact me through the email link below with any suggestions of topics you would like to see discussed here. Everything contained in this blog will be something I have read, heard and learned, supplemented by my own thoughts on the topic. It is not to be taken as absolute truth, just my own truth based on the knowledge I have attained.
I wish you great joy and many blessings!
Molly
theshadowedrealm@hotmail.com
Posted by Molly
at 6:58 AM PDT
Updated: Friday, 17 August 2007 12:11 PM PDT