In any given moment we have two options:
To step forward into growth or step back into safety.
--Abraham Maslow
Time. We all feel its passing. We watch the clock. We wish for more of it. We want it to speed up or slow down. Time is a constant in our life. And, yet, always fleeting.
What would you do if you woke up tomorrow and knew it was the last day you would ever have? Would you still want time to speed up? Would you sigh and think “will this day never end?” Would you complain about the weather? Or…would you realise how precious each moment is and how much we take for granted?
Twenty-four hours. A day is like a single drop of rain in the ocean when you think about a life of eighty years or more. But that single drop of rain sends out ripples and those ripples meet obstacles and become waves. The waves continue to grow until they become a tsunami. That tsunami can consist of good things or bad. And that choice is yours to make. Today.
Think about the most successful people in this world be they business owners, celebrities or artists. What sets them apart from those of us who just get by? The answer can be broken down into a simple equation – time and how they choose to utilise it. Successful individuals know that every day is as special as the one before or the one that will come after it. They don’t waste time on feeling inadequate, angry or spiteful. They embrace happiness and joy. They do things…they don’t just want things.
In traditional Chinese medicine joy is associated with the heart. An imbalance of joy can lead to either agitation or restlessness or depression. You can also suffer from insomnia, heart palpitations, excessive dreaming and other psychological disorders.
We can all find happiness every day. There are always vacuums of time available to us – holes that we can fill with an infinite capacity to experience joy. To do something productive rather than destructive or simply wasteful. Pick up a book that will teach you something. Watch a documentary instead of bingeing something frivolous. Learn another language. Take a class. Write that novel or paint that masterpiece.
We may not all be able to change the world. We may not save lives or prevent disease or invent the internet, but we can change our lives. By choosing every day not to waste the time we are given, by choosing joy and laughter over hate and bitterness. And by making that choice, who’s to say we won’t change the world by influencing another person with our attitude. Then that person will pay it forward to another.
Ripples and waves. Time is infinite and so very finite. Use it wisely.