Wishing the time away
I just can't wait until......
Sometimes I decide to write about something because I keep having conversations where I’m saying the same exact thing. When that happens, I take it as a sign: this is something I need to sit with more. Recently, I’ve been talking to people about time.
These are the things I keep hearing—or saying myself:
“I can’t believe it’s already November.”
“ughhh it’s only Tuesday!”
“I can’t wait for….the weekend….Thanksgiving break….when I go home.”
“This year is going by so quickly.”
“Thank God it’s almost Friday.”
And then I find myself saying, “I love having something to look forward to, but I also don’t want to wish time away.”
I don’t want to live for the future when I’m here right now. I don’t want to count on moments that haven’t happened yet. I don’t want to rush through life- hustling, waiting, wishing it away -for the promise of a potentially better someday.
But, that’s something we have to reprogram ourselves for, because it’s become our culture. Society teaches us to chase the next thing-to work, hustle, grind, maximize every minute….while simultaneously numbing us to waste all our attention on screens, ultimately having us losing touch with ourselves, each other and reality.
There are cultures and languages that have words for of time1. Can you imagine? You keep track of time via planting and harvest, the sun and the moon, but beyond that you are only here. Present. Isn’t that kind of magical?
Th older I get, the more I realize that time is the biggest gift. Wishing it away could be a sign of discontent or could be a sign of hope and excitement of what’s ahead. The challenge is finding the balance: To be excited for the future without abandoning the present. To notice where we’re unhappy, without living only for the “one day when…”. Because ultimately, he more we wish for the future, the faster the present slips by—until it becomes the past we miss.
How I Make Time Stop
Many people find mindfulness, meditation and breathing as a way to feel present. For me it looks like this:
Purposeful attention. I already wrote about this in a previous post so feel free to check it out! But, basically being aware of where your attention is changes everything. You become more intentional. You detox your dopamine. You wake up to your life.
Gratitude. This is probably the most powerful exercise. I call it an exercise because you definitely have to train yourself and be disciplined in the approach. At night, I like to write down three things about the day that I was grateful for. It helps me slow down, notice ordinary things, and appreciate them.
After doing this, I sometimes write down things I’m looking forward to tomorrow or in the near future—so hope and presence can exist together in a fixed future time frame— while still keeping me grounded.
Nature. Speaking of being grounded. I appreciate time the most when I am on a walk/run in nature. Looking at the sun filtering through the trees, counting all the butterflies & dragon flies, admiring the small “weeds” of flowers sprouting around. I think this ties into both of the above: purpose attention and gratitude.
Being Creative. I read somewhere that moving your hands is the best way to help your brain and mood. I find myself feeling most myself when I am creating: writing, painting, drawing, cooking, baking, crafting. I get immersed. And that is how we should feel: Enveloped in our day or at least in bits and pieces of each day.
After writing that, I had to look up the quotes I was thinking of. The first is the one I meant—but the other two fit perfectly:
“When the hands are busy, the heart is at rest”
“We are born makers. We move what we are learning from our heads to our hearts through our hands”
“The mind can go in a thousand directions, but on your hands rests the power to bring it back to the present”
Check out the Hopi language- it’s super unique!