10/7/2009
I have lately decided that, instead of focusing on what I do wrong or what my failings and shortcomings are, I will focus on the things I do right; I check in with myself periodically and give myself validation that what I am currently doing is acceptable and just engage in whatever I choose to do at the present time, trying to keep in mind what my overall goals for the day are.
Then, as sometimes happens, I will be so engaged in something that I lose track of time and realize suddenly that I should have moved on. Like today, when I was writing, I knew that I was going over the amount of time that I had planned to spend doing this, but my time-limits are somewhat flexible and I decided I would stop when I got to a certain point, and I did. However, once I moved on to doing other things, I suddenly saw that it was time to pick up my son at school – and, in fact, I was ten minutes late. I no longer try to figure out how ten minutes could suddenly go by in an instant; it just happens.
Now, in the past in this situation, I would see what time it was, panic and fret over being late. I would instantly jump into overdrive, start trying to think of everything that I maybe should’ve done differently, try to figure out how this happened, and fret over what I needed to do now to rearrange my schedule since I obviously screwed up, and I would run out the door feeling frazzled, frustrated and berating myself, worrying that my son would be waiting for me and upset.
I would race down the road, getting impatient over the traffic, trying to think up excuses for why I am late and when I decide to blame it on the traffic, the traffic cooperates by being really bad and then I am really late and feel guilty, but I tell myself that I do have an excuse. And I promise myself I will try harder to do better.
Well, this is what I did today: I saw the time and realized that I needed to leave now – at the present time – to pick up Dalton. I did not let it register that according to my clock, I was already late. I simply turned around, picked up my purse and my keys and walked out the door. I focused on nothing other than the task at hand, I am leaving, I am going to pick up my son. I drove to the school without paying attention to the traffic or thinking about being late. I behaved and thought in the same way I would if I had left in plenty of time. I arrived at the school very quickly, practically unaware that any time had even passed. And I was there before my son had left the building. According to the clock in my car, it had taken me one minute to get there. But, it takes 10 minutes.
But, I was on time; no guilt, no stress, no worries. I simply picked up my son like I was supposed to do. And when I got home, I could look at my schedule and see what I’d accomplished and that the only tasks I had remaining could be easily done. No guilt, no frustration, no self-berating.
And this is what I mean when I have talked about “time-warps.” This is what I mean when I say that nothing is impossible. A “rational” individual would have looked at the time on my clock and known without question that I was going to be ten minutes late to the school, no way about it. However, I did not do that. I kept the thought in my head that now was the time to pick my son up and that is what I was presently doing. So where did those ten minutes go? You tell me. This type of thing has happened to me many times in my life.
And this is why I believe in “magic.” BELIEVING is the key.
In conclusion though, what this means to me is that what we focus on determines what we get, what we experience. And I am finding that when I focus on the positives and on getting what I desire – being how I want to be – then I get more positives. And when I only focus on my shortcomings and on problems, then that is what I experience.
This is very powerful, and this is real. It works. Why do we seem to always have so much trouble believing in something that is so powerful; something that can vastly improve our lives? Why are we afraid to believe things? It is an interesting question, but it is one that I am finding answers to within my own life. Maybe we just need to go through the process of finding these things out for ourselves, in our own time.
Food for thought.
…And regarding the issue of “TIME,” here’s more food for thought:
