Have you noticed how time never seems equal in different situations? For example, when you’re in the flow of doing an activity that you truly love and are fully engaged in, an hour can pass by as if it was only a minute. Yet, when you’re sitting in a boring meeting where people are not connecting and talking about matters that don’t seem to be of real significance, one minute can seem like an hour.
How is that possible?
I’ve recently come across some reading on the elasticity of time and even had an experience of it myself. What I understand this to mean is that, essentially, time can be flexible depending on the choices we make about how we use it.
When we’re running on a tight schedule – from meeting to meeting – with barely a gap to go to the bathroom, any unexpected change to the schedule will catch us off-guard and put us in a rotten mood. In this case, we feel unable to make a choice to do what we really want to do for ourselves because we’re just ‘too busy’ and ‘there’s no time’. Everything feels like it is just another thing that needs to be fitted into an already overloaded schedule.
However, when we consciously stop our manic scheduling to take time to do something that is good for us and important for our well-being – something that feeds our soul – somehow, everything we need to do still gets done and at the same time, we feel a whole lot better about ourselves in general.
I know that to those of you still running on hectic schedules with no breathing room, this sounds like poppycock! And the reason I know this is because I used to be one of you (and there are bits of that thinking that still remain, of course!) However, last week, when I decided to take a busy day and make sure that I prioritised the things I really wanted to do – yes, those things that if they didn’t get done could wait another day, like writing my blog piece or visiting a sick friend – I found that miraculously, my urgent stuff still got done and I was in top form for the rest of the week. This pattern was reinforced every day, as long as I had the same mindset. Somehow, cancellations were like a gift to do more of the stuff I really wanted to do. My motivation and fulfillment levels were at a high. Rescheduling the cancellations happened easily and quickly. Man… I was amazed – still am! I’m sure there is no scientific explanation to this but it worked for me. I can tell a story from every day this last week where things constantly changed and maneuvered in a way that helped me on this journey of experiencing time elasticity. No manic scheduling – just a whole lot of calm.I’m just taking a step back and observing this new energy. It feels rather new and precious and long may it last…
So bottom line – if you take the time to do the things you really want to do, the things that feed your soul, time will actually stretch for you.
Sounds wacky? I know… and I dare you to try it!
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