Inhale deeply.
Exhale.
Settle into this now.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Settle into this now.
And welcome to a hit of hope.
A friend of mine grew up in Mumbai.
And she told me that in many of the languages spoken in India,
The word for tomorrow is the same as the word for yesterday.
Let me repeat that.
The word for tomorrow is the same as the word for yesterday.
My friend said the only way you can tell the difference is context.
Inhale.
Exhale.
If you speak a language where yesterday and tomorrow are the same,
Time stops being linear.
In other words,
Time is no longer a train with tracks leading you from point A to point B.
Time is an ocean,
Endless,
Wild,
Undulating,
A wide expanse that shifts and moves as it encompasses everything.
Past and future surround.
And the human experiencing time is riding a small raft right there in the middle of it all.
Inhale.
Exhale.
What moves me so about this idea of time is its beautiful emphasis on the now.
As you ride your raft,
A particular wave will rise,
Which we could call the present moment.
And before long,
It drops and disappears back into the ocean,
There and not there.
This allows you to be in the middle of all that has been and all that will be at the same time.
Storms arise,
Sure,
And yet they can be seen for what they are,
A part of this wider whole.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Something else that I love about this vision of time,
In the now,
You are not alone.
You are surrounded by all the yous you have ever been and ever will be.
The past yous,
The future yous,
All of them are there,
Supporting you,
Surrounding you,
Now and always.
Inhale.
Exhale.
I don't know about you,
But I find great comfort in that.
When my life was in shambles,
One night I remember falling to my knees in utter anguish and screaming out in pain.
I didn't know a human heart could hurt that badly.
Inhale.
Exhale.
I was just about to say,
Thankfully,
I have moved on from that moment,
But in my friend's conception of time,
That wouldn't be right.
It would be more accurate to say that moment is no longer my now,
And yet that moment is still right here with me.
And this now is a hell of a lot sweeter because I've had that moment and I survived it,
And so many others.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Now,
Of course,
This vision of time can be unsettling.
Life's waves crash into us,
Threatening to pull us under.
So could we please be in a pond of time rather than an ocean,
Something small,
Controllable,
Where we can see all the possible edges and plan and control?
Inhale.
Exhale.
Let's face it,
So much of life is out of our control.
But instead of choosing to focus on that,
What if we accept this invitation to ride this now as fully and as freely as we can?
And to know that we do not live this now alone,
But we are surrounded by all the wisdom and innocence,
All the regrets and successes,
All the life experiences that we have had and ever will have.
What a full vision of self,
Of time,
Of life.
Ride this wave of now with curiosity and courage,
And oh,
What a ride it will be.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Live light.
