FAREWELL TIME OF 2019
Recently I reviewed my schedule. You know when you do this or when you do that and is it working. Then I got to thinking about the end of the year and how fast it has gone, or my perception of how fast it has gone. Then I remembered that I had heard somewhere once that time is just perception. Then I thought in fact the calendar itself is just a tool for measurement. A human made thing that was made to measure another human thing "time".
The calendar is a marvellous human invention for tracking loops around the sun. It helps us schedule appointments; action tasks and keeps us accountable in ‘doing’ life. The calendar is a keeper of days and time. Flipping through the calendar we recognise it has a beginning, middle and an end.
As it ends, rolling into December, we feel time slip away, reflecting on the past year that was. Did we tick off all our to do’s and did we achieve what we wanted. Reflection on the past can be useful. The past helps us measure how far we have come and guide us on where we would like to go in the future. Be wary of analysis during reflection. Instead observe your past as if you are reading a great story and look to the future as if you are about to write the next chapter.
Your life story is entangled with the story of your family, friends and community, which inturn are entangled with the stories of others. They are also entangled through time they reach back through thousands and possibly millions of years. They stretch across many calendars that had many to do lists in many lives. These stories have shaped our world today. Each story is important and impacts the next.
What if the cave man never discovered fire?
What if Beethoven could hear?
What if you were not who you are?
We may find it unfathomable to understand the impact we have in the world. We may think our stories un-interesting and un-important. We may become bogged down in the ‘to do’s’ and getting stuff done. If we focus too much on the calendar then we are always looking to the future and the past.
What about the present?
The present is an amazing place to be. It is neither the past or future, it is un-track-able. It has no time. It simply is a feeling with a strong overwhelming sense of gratitude.
So as you look on this last calendar page of 2019 in reflection and planning for 2020. Remember to use the gift of the present. Be grateful for your story and recognise the impact and importance you have in the lives of others. You are not just your to do list. Scheduling time is important just leave some room to be grateful and remember you are alive to experience life.
Kimba