Time and gratitude

Time and gratitude. My thinking about time and gratitude interested in an improved ability to be aware of the present. I find it difficult to respond to the admonition “Be present.” I found it relatively easy to increase my awareness of things around me that I’m grateful for—and the end result is that I am more present.

Time and happiness. My readings about time and happiness have been intersecting on this point “it’s the journey that matters, not the destination.”

When I get too focused on the destination, fretting over “are we there yet” questions, my attitude toward time is that there is not enough time. Bodil Jonsson points out that these two statements are equally ridiculous:

• I don’t have enough time

• I have plenty of time

But the second statement leads to relaxation, patience, and happiness, while the first leads to anxiety, tension, and unhappiness.

When I’m in the midst of a time crisis I can’t quite believe the mantra, “I have plenty of time.”  I can sometimes believe the mantra from T. Alexander Anderson’s book The Gift of Time: I have all the time I need to do whatever I choose. When neither of those works, this does: I put the statement “It takes time to…” in front of whatever I’m attempting to accomplish. A lot of my problem with time seems to be an expectation that things in the physical world should happen as fast as thought, so it’s helpful to remind myself that it just doesn’t work that way.

Organizing time. A new organizational system unexpectedly popped out of this and some other reading. I’ve gone back to something that has worked for me before—planning based on the phases of the moon and the seasons and half seasons. I feel like I’m connecting with ancestral rhythms and engaging in a partial rejection of the artificiality of clock and calendar time. I’ve also made the system visual (mind maps and color-coded lists) and ephemeral (on paper, the back of used computer paper at that), emphasizing the reassurance that I can redraw and replan any time I like and don’t need to be thrown for a loop by unplanned occurrences.

We can exchange time for money, for relationships, for spirituality and other things. But we can’t, for example, buy relationships with money or vice versa. “Time is the true capital.”

The fact that “time is the only thing you have” can be experienced as a joy, an eye-opener, an exhortation or a challenge, all depending on your mood.

Time is the greatest gift we are given. The second greatest gift is the freedom to use it anyway we choose.A good mood and a positive attitude can make our time more pleasurable no matter what we choose to do. Next time you sit down to pay bills play some relaxing music and sip a cup of tea.Some of us need “don’t do” lists. Make a list of things you no longer want to do and you will discover more time to do what you like.

So, we hurry because we are holding onto an illusion that life in the fast lane will get us to our destination sooner. We think our destination is happiness, and as we rush to find happiness we pass it by. Happiness can only be experienced in the present moment. The journey is filled with such moments; the destination has few.