By altering perception, time loses its stranglehold on the way we live. Channels of creativity are released and expressed. Communing with nature takes us away in a rush of what it means to slow down and seemingly stretch out time. When time is stretched too far, it will snap to reveal a multi-dimensional world. Linear time will be laid to rest.
My great-grandfather was a clock-maker, and his clock-making business was where Lancaster Newspaper used to be. I want to learn to be a trickster and allow time to be “the great liberator” instead of the prison cell it is for so many, including myself, sometimes. For instance, as mentioned, I used to punch a time-clock at work. Everything I do throughout a 12-hour shift is noted on the clock and written on the medical record. A doctor walks into a patient's room, and writes down the time – time of birth, time of placenta delivery, time of hemorrhage, time of vaginal tear and/or time of death. The times have got to be exact for all of these events, and much, much more.
And then it's time to finally punch the time-clock again and run the other way, literally sprinting from the arbitrary time-experience, which is a total illusion. Time does not exist. So why does "the world" stick so rigidly to these rules? I have no idea!
Medicine is rooted in the physical world with time ruling all outcomes. Healing has its roots in Spirit. Good medicine integrates the two, with Grace. Hospitals could be a healing Mecca where patients orchestrate their own healing. They could decide the how, the why and the when on their own terms and their own "time" – if the world would singularly drop the pretense of time.
The alchemy of time is a mystery as is most of life. Yet, in order to elevate time and transform it to the next level, we must accept the simple truth – time is the biggest joke humans have ever devised! In discussing something as important, agreed upon and rigid as time, false beliefs are sure to arise to "assure the safe passage of time."
Here are a few I came up with:
1) "There isn't enough time in the day to get everything done." The excuses that arise here are numerous, such as impatience with others and a victim-consciousness about all WE do.
2) "I need large blocks of uninterrupted time to get things done." The main attitude here is – get out of my way – my work is more important than you or your work.
3) "It's possible to have high levels of productivity day after day." This one is a recipe for burnout.
4) "It's not possible to have high levels of productivity day after day." This one may be an excuse for not getting anything done.
5) "I should do what my boss tells me to do before doing what I know is best for the organization." This sounds to me as if better communication is needed.
6) "If you can't get it all done, you aren't working hard enough." This creates a punitive work environment all the way around the very broken circle.
- 7) "If you have only five minutes to devote to a project, that's five minutes more than you are doing right now." This sounds like GUILT to those well versed in this punitive un-learning environment.
- 8) "Everything must be in order before I can write my article." This one is a great excuse to never write another word again!
- 9) "Think outside the box." Whoever said there was a box to begin with? Who created the box? Whoever said it was real?
- 10) "I am accomplishing something if I can check it off my list." If you believe this, then keep doing it.
- 11) "If I want to do something right, I'll do it myself." There are more victim-issues in this one.
- 12) "More time devoted to a project guarantees a better outcome." This one is a great excuse to be a perfectionist – then you never release anything out into the world.
- 13) "I cannot manage time, but I can manage how I use it." There’s a little control issue here, centered in the word “manage,” but truth is in it, too.
- 14) "Your value is measured by how much you do for others." Sounds like a set-up for being under-appreciated to me, and over-worked.
In musing about these time-management beliefs, false or otherwise, I see a common thread going through it all – doing is more desirable than being. Time is more important than living in the present moment, where true timelessness exists. It's all a process and the sooner we learn to release it all, pause and relax, our grip on time will loosen.
A whole new world will be revealed.
