Because we live either in the future or the past we inevitably suffer in the present moment over that which may or may not occur. The human mind has evolved to ponder how to survive in an often hostile and threatening universe. This by necessity requires creating and imagining future narratives and strategizing how to deal with them.
This clearly beneficial survival mechanism can unfortunately produce suffering when it is allowed to range free and without constraints. We seem to live in that imagined future and in the process accelerate the perception of time. The challenge we all face is how to balance the necessity to plan and protect ourselves and our loved ones while not abandoning the need to recognize the beauty and majesty of the present moment.
Our lives seem to race by us. Minutes become hours become days, weeks, months and years. We shock ourselves at the passage of time and it seems to accelerate as we age. This time treadmill is on fast forward with no evidence that it will slow down until we ultimately stop running. Will we inevitably reach the end of our lives and look back in shock at how quickly it has passed?
It may just require a recognition of our nature and to make a concerted effort to slow down the process. I return to the topic of meditation. It requires the ‘time-out’ or in other words taking a forced vacation from the incessant thoughts that bring stress and anxiety to our daily existence. It requires a recognition that we can be in a safe place–even for that time we take to do it. It allows us to calm the mind and observe its thoughts.
This is the practice of mindfulness in which the contents of our minds—our thoughts and feelings can be allowed expression but without attachment. It also changes how we perceive time. The present moment may seem like an eternity when we attempt to change our perception of it. That is what is so fascinating about meditation. Try it for only ten minutes and shock yourself by the difficulty in staying with it.
It is difficult to accomplish because it challenges the way our minds have developed over a lifetime and how it works by default. But it is worth the effort if we can just take the time to practice it.
I keep returning to this topic because I need to reinforce to myself the need to do it. The intellect understands what should be done even though we constantly find excuses to avoid it. We just need to act on it. Nameste