Time: Pressure or Pleasure
The only way we can make the most of our lives is to make the most of our moments.
-Cleo Wade-
I wrote a post a year ago on my previous blog, Habitual Gratitude, that I am revisiting today.
I gave myself a couple of opportunities yesterday to practice the pace of presence. After some overnight tossing and turning, I got up earlier than usual so I could do some meditation in the hopes that I would fall back to sleep for at least a little longer. It worked and I woke up more refreshed than my sleep hours would indicate.
I also woke up with a slower mind and went into the next part of my morning routine, some strength and core exercises, with my brain not flying from one thought to another and tension not building. The pace of presence is a kinder, gentler pace for me, for all of us.
We live in a world that seems to run counter to this idea though. It is causing significant harm to our overall health, and we often don't even pause to consider it. The children and young people of today are getting even more impacted by it. If we never shut down our minds, how can they be clear? If we never give ourselves and our thoughts a break, a period of no judgment, how do we ever get perspective?
So I do what I can and encourage others to do the same. I get discouraged and worried for the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health of humankind, especially those in my country. And then I try to get back to the business of practicing presence.
Time slows when my approach to it slows. This is part of my daily struggle, but I am guaranteed that genuine and ongoing practice makes progress possible. The pace of presence brings contentment, acceptance, more energy. The pace of "too much to do and not enough time to do it" throws all of that out the window.
“Time slows when my approach to it slows.” The Lisa I am today thanks the Lisa who wrote those words a year ago.
When time becomes only about pressure, small pleasures in the moment–the glow of lights on our Christmas tree, the satisfaction of the right word coming along, a smile to myself–are missed, and the elusive chase continues. The amount of time in a day hasn’t changed and won’t. If you and I want less pressure and more simple pleasure, we are the ones who need to change.
