Learning To Come To Terms With Time

The trouble is, you think you have time. As we come to live in the present moment we learn to accept our mortality and live our lives more fully in the NOW. We can live our lives more fully and make the most of every second we have.
Music by Chris Collins #13

Transcript

Welcome,

And I hope that each one of you will come to find peace within yourself.

Today I want to talk about coming to terms with our own mortality and how that relates to our perception of time.

When we're young,

Days seem to last forever.

Time seems to stream out ahead of us,

And everything takes so long.

Summer vacation from school is an eternity.

Even a weekend is just so long.

And then,

As we get older,

Time seems to speed up.

Days go by more quickly,

And years go by faster each year.

That's okay,

We always have plenty of time,

Right?

There's a well-known quote from Jack Kornfield that says,

The trouble is,

You think you have time.

Just as a side note,

This quote is sometimes attributed to the Buddha,

But scholars don't believe he actually said it.

Jack Kornfield did.

But what does that really mean?

It means that most people go through life thinking that they have nothing but time.

But yet they really don't.

Time is your most valuable commodity,

And yet most people don't manage time properly.

The time we think we have is an illusion.

We waste time.

We squander it,

Always acting like we have an infinite supply.

But we don't.

Just for a moment,

Try to imagine that you've been told that you only have a week to live.

You would suddenly be forced to be much more efficient with your use of time.

You would plan things.

You would do things you wouldn't normally do.

You would see everyone in your life with new eyes.

A perfect example of what I'm talking about is in the song by Tim McGraw,

Live Like You Were Dying.

The premise of the song is that it's about a man who's been told he's dying.

And one verse 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 he said,

Someday I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying.

The trouble is you think you have time.

And when you finally realize you don't,

You treat time differently.

Normally we put off important things,

Assuming that we can do them later.

But there may not be any later.

Life is short,

And so is time.

So we have to make good use of it.

Now,

Not later.

It's a fallacy to go through life thinking that your life is going to last forever.

Because it won't.

And it won't necessarily end when you're 90 years old.

It could end tomorrow,

Or next month,

Or 30 minutes from now.

For myself,

I've always believed that that was the one benefit I got from a team of doctors telling me I was only going to live five years when I was 30.

As a result,

I've lived my life differently.

I took time for things.

I played with my daughters in the fall leaves and in the winter snow.

I stopped to smell the flowers and admire the birds and so much more.

I realized that forever is now.

And the sooner you come to fully understand that,

The more fully you live your life.

Time is valuable.

And once you spend it,

It's gone.

We are all mortal,

And death is certain for all of us.

No one escapes.

And perhaps more importantly,

Is we have no idea when it will happen.

All the more reason to live more in the present moment.

To cherish the moments we have.

To cherish all the people and creatures and living things and all the beauty that's around us.

Close your eyes now,

And let's get in touch with our breath.

It doesn't matter if you're sitting,

Lying down,

Or standing.

We have nowhere to be and nothing to do in this moment.

This moment is for you.

This.

Here.

Now.

This moment is all there is.

First let's scan our body and begin to relax.

Shake loose your muscles.

Relax your neck.

Relax your shoulders.

I always have a lot of tension in my neck.

Relax your arms and your fingers.

Don't clench your hands.

Let go of any tension in your chest or belly and relax your jaw.

Feel yourself getting heavier with each breath.

Remember to relax your legs and feet.

And as you begin to relax,

Let's focus more on our breath.

Inhale slowly and then gently exhale.

Notice your breath as it flows in.

Notice where you feel it in your body.

The movement of your chest and belly.

A cool sensation as the air comes in through your nose and the breath flows in.

And flows out.

Listen to the world around you as you settle in.

Hear the sound of your breathing.

The call of the birds.

The bark of a dog.

The laughter of children.

As you relax and get in touch with your breath,

Just bask in your surroundings.

Continue to breathe at your normal pace and don't force anything.

Just let your breath flow like a river,

Sure and tranquil and calm.

Surrender to the world around you and know that this moment is precious and unique.

The past is gone and unchangeable.

And the future is just a construct of your mind.

It doesn't exist.

Now is all that matters.

You and your breath with the world circling all around you.

If you have thoughts,

Just let them go like clouds passing across the sky.

Just focus on your breath and let thoughts pass across your mind and out again.

We are only concerned with our breath as it flows in and as it flows out.

Being able to get in touch with the current of our breath can transform your life.

It can help you to deal with tension,

Insecurities and anxiety and it can help you stay more in the present moment.

Following the flow of your breath can help you to deal better with problems.

Breathing in and breathing out.

Can we accept the fact that we have limited time and have to be more in the present moment?

We can live our lives more fully.

We can truly live and enjoy everything around us.

We can focus on all the things we may be missing now.

Each one of us should try to live our lives as if we only had a short time left.

In this way,

We can come to really cherish and appreciate all the aspects of our lives,

Following our breath,

One breath at a time.

I came to terms with my own mortality when I was 30 years old.

It's simply a matter of being more realistic.

And as people who practice meditation and mindfulness,

You are in the best position to live more in the present moment.

You make the most of every day,

To take time to see the beauty all around you,

To be thankful each day that you are here to experience all that life can offer,

The good and the bad without judgment.

Breathing in and breathing out.

Following your breath and knowing that forever is now.

The only moment you can be sure of is this one.

Open your eyes now and come back into the room,

Being aware of each breath,

Being aware of the birds in the trees,

The flowers in the yard,

The needs of those around us.

By doing this,

As best we can,

Even a short life would be full.

Now stretch,

Wiggle your fingers and toes.

Notice how relaxed you feel,

How alive you feel,

How good it is to be alive and in this moment.

Now as we get ready to close,

I want to leave you with a poem by WH Davies called Leisure,

Which kind of sums up what we've been talking about.

And it goes,

What is this life full of care?

If we have no time to stand and stare,

No time to stand beneath the boughs and stare as long as sheep or cows,

No time to see when woods we pass where squirrels are hiding nuts and grass,

No time to see in broad daylight streams full of stars like skies at night,

No time to turn at beauty's glance and watch her feet see how they dance,

No time to wait till her mouth can enrich the smile her eyes began.

A poor life this,

If full of care,

You have no time to stand and stare.

I hope this has been a beneficial and calming session.

Till next time.

Till next time,

Bye everyone.

Reviews

It certainly helped 🙏🏻

I really loved this meditation,it resonates with my thinking! Thankyou soo much for sharing it 🙏❤
In this troubled world it brings peace. Namaste 🙏