We only have so much time on this planet, and yet so much of it is squandered. We replay the events of the day in our minds and build them into something they are not, which is, anything other than a fleeting moment in time. How many opportunities to be present, to experience joy, are completely missed because we’re too busy thinking about what we should have done when that person scowled at us, what we should have written in that email, what we should have said to our partner. The list goes on, and it is all bogus, absolutely bogus.
At this very moment, this instant, we can relieve ourselves of our burdensome mind by simply taking a deep breath in and experiencing where we are. Look at your surroundings without judgment, just witness. Or close your eyes and smell, or listen, or just feel. There is no pain in this moment, at least their shouldn’t be, because the only real pain is physical, and if you’re experiencing physical pain, well, you probably shouldn’t be reading a blog post.
How often do any of us actually experience physical pain anymore? For most of us, the closest we come to physical pain is the burn we get from exercise, but that’s about it. All the other pain we experience is fabricated in our own minds. Perhaps our lizard brains needed something to fill the void left when we abandoned the hunt and picked up a relatively safe, sedentary lifestyle, so it created it’s own version of pain. Pain of the mind. But just as we would not willingly subject ourselves to physical torture, why would we torment our brains?
Yes, we should reflect on the events that transpire in our lives, for we can learn from all that we experience, but that does not give us license to spend our precious time drudging up every slight we can remember. While we’re replaying how a meeting at work went, our kids are pulling at our sleeves demanding our attention. If we are physically there, shouldn’t we mentally be there too? If the meeting was really that bad, take an extra ten minutes after work to write out how it could have gone better, what you could do next time, and then leave it at the office. The thoughts, the journal, everything. Because when you’re at home, be at home. Just as you should be wherever you are wherever you are.
The final episode of the the 1990s Chicago Bulls documentary The Last Dance opens with a writer stating that Michael Jordan’s real talent lay in his ability to be present. He was not worried about what happened the play prior, the game prior, the practice prior, nor was he worried about what the future plays, games, practices might hold, he existed entirely in the moment, and did all he could within that moment. Of course it helped that he had amazing talent to back that presence, but perhaps it was that presence that drove the talent. Similar things can be said of all the greats. Boxers like Mike Tyson—in his heyday—and Muhammed Ali had to be present, if they weren’t they’d get punched in the face, and that translated into their lives as well. Great actors are the same way. Wherever they are, they are there. That’s why they need assistants, if they didn’t, they wouldn’t make their hectic schedule work because they’re so engrossed in what they’re doing that they couldn’t leave. These are the same people who accomplish a great deal. And why wouldn’t they? If they’re absolutely present, doing one thing at a time, with their fully concerted effort, then of course they’re going to get a lot done.
We can do the same. We can be like them. After all, they are given the same twenty-four hours a day we are. We need only make those twenty-four hours count. Every day, every hour, every minute, use them to grow, to evolve, to accomplish something of merit. Make good use of your time, because no matter who you are, you can’t get it back. And the clock is ticking.
scott ironmonger 