Welcome,
And I hope that each one of you will come to find peace within yourself.
Today I'm going to talk about time,
Dealing with time,
And the idea of living like you were dying.
And this meditation is based on a recent live session.
You know,
Time is the one currency that we can't earn back,
And yet it's often spent as if it were infinite.
People will delay joy,
They'll postpone presents,
They'll defer dreams waiting for a better moment that may never come.
I say it all the time,
And I'm going to say it again.
Time is our most valuable commodity,
And it's the one thing we spend without knowing our balance,
Without knowing how much time we have.
Which is why I always say I'm honored that you're investing your precious time here with me,
Just as I'm investing mine here with you.
I've talked before about the Tim McGraw song called Live Like You Were Dying,
And it's about a man who learns that he's going to die soon from cancer.
And when he looks about himself and thinks about his time that he has left,
He says,
I went skydiving,
I went Rocky Mountain climbing,
I went 2.
7 seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu,
And I loved deeper,
And I spoke sweeter,
And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying.
And I hope someday you get the chance to live like you were dying,
Because I'd like each of you to stop for a second and imagine that you've been told that you have seven days to live,
Just seven,
And in exactly seven days your life will be over.
Think about that.
What would you do?
Who would you want to see?
Who would you want to talk to?
What would you want to eat?
Because when you're told your time is down to only seven days,
It makes you look at everything differently.
I was 30 years old when a team of doctors told me that I only had about five years to live.
They were all very serious,
The neurosurgeon had tears in his eyes,
And they suggested I go home and get my affairs in order.
And to me I had one benefit of being told that I only had five years to live was that I lived my life differently.
I dedicated time to my daughters.
We went camping and canoeing.
We built forts and houses in the snow.
We played in the fall leaves.
We did Girl Scouts together.
We lived each moment.
And I noticed all the glimmers.
Living like you're dying isn't about urgency or panic,
It's about clarity.
Living as if you were dying is really a way of bringing impermanence out of the abstract and into your body.
Impermanence as a teacher rather than a threat.
When people hear live like you were dying,
They often imagine urgency or bucket lists or pressure to squeeze meaning out of every second.
But the deeper teaching is quieter.
Impermanence strips away the unnecessary.
What actually matters becomes unmistakably clear.
It softens your heart,
And when you remember that things won't last you meet them with more gentleness.
Close your eyes now and let's get in touch with our breath.
And it doesn't matter if you're sitting,
Standing,
Lying down,
Or kicked back in your favorite recliner.
The only thing that truly matters when you meditate is that you're comfortable and alert.
So as you start to settle in,
Focus on your breath.
You're just breathing in and breathing out,
One breath at a time.
No need to change it,
No need to alter it.
You don't try to breathe like me,
You try to breathe like you.
Scan our body,
Relax your face,
Unfurl your brow,
And unclench your jaw.
Relax your neck,
And relax your shoulders.
These are common places of tension in today's world,
With so many people hunched over their phones or tablets or laptops.
Relax your arms and your hands.
Look for any tension in your chest and belly.
Relax your legs and your feet,
And as you begin to settle in,
Let's focus even more on our breath.
Our breath is here for us in all moments,
When we're happy,
When we're sad,
And when we're living like we were dying.
Our breath is like a river as it flows in and flows out.
Notice where you feel it,
Maybe a cool sensation in your nose as the breath flows in,
Or the movement of your chest and belly as the breath flows in and flows out.
You're just breathing and relaxing.
Just notice that breath,
Not changing it,
Just noticing it.
The inhale arrives,
And the exhale leaves,
And time continues to flow.
Just let yourself arrive in this moment,
Not rushing,
Not reaching,
Just arriving.
Now,
Imagine time not ticking as a clock,
But as a gentle river.
It doesn't demand,
It invites.
It doesn't chase,
It carries.
You are not behind.
You are not late.
You are here.
Let that truth settle into your body.
And here I'm going to pause for a minute,
And I want you to give more thought to the idea that you have seven days to live,
And how that would impact how you live those seven days,
And I'll be back in a minute.
Bring to mind something that you often rush through,
Maybe a task,
Or a conversation,
Or a morning routine.
Whatever it might be,
Hold it gently in your awareness.
And then ask yourself,
What would it feel like to treat this as sacred?
Not special,
Not dramatic,
Just sacred.
Worthy of your full attention.
Worthy of your breath.
Let your body respond.
Notice any softening,
Any resistance,
Any curiosity.
Now,
Imagine your day unfolding like a ceremony.
Not a checklist,
But a series of offerings.
Offerings.
Each moment an altar.
Each breath a candle.
Each interaction a prayer.
How would you move?
How would you speak?
And how would you listen?
Let this vision settle into your mind.
Let it settle into your heart.
You don't need more time.
You need more presence.
You don't need to hold time.
You need to be held by it.
Now take an inhale,
And as you do,
Say to yourself,
Time is sacred.
And as you exhale,
Say,
I live within it.
It's the one thing we spend without knowing what our balance is.
And while we live like we're dying,
You pay attention to the things that are important,
To the people that are important,
To the things in your life that you glide by now.
Offer gratitude to this moment,
To your breath,
To your willingness to slow down.
You are not behind.
You are not late.
You are here.
And here is holy.
If you follow my meditations or my live sessions,
You know that I like quotes.
So I've got a good one for you today.
Author Carl Sandburg said,
Time is the coin of your life,
Is the only coin you have,
And only you can determine how it will be spent.
Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.
Wise words.
I hope this has been a beneficial and calming session.
For each and every one of you.
Till next time.
