THE GOAL:
The goal is to LIVE RIGHT NOW.
The goal is to LIVE CONSCIOUSLY right now.
This is the foundation. Tomorrow you die. Today you live.
But what does it exactly suggest about how we should live?
To be conscious is to be conscious of the characteristics, details, attributes…
One such characteristic of anything that you’re observing/doing is TIME.
Therefore to be conscious is to be conscious of time.
Time which is passing, time which is needed to conclude your work, time which is left before the sun sets, time which is left before you die, time which is needed before the tree grows…
CONSCIOUS also implies CONTROL.
When you’re conscious, aware how something works — you can make it work according to YOUR design.
Of course you can’t control everything — but you can control what YOU DO.
And to be conscious is to control what you do with your time.
FALSE DICHOTOMY:
There are two common confusions in regards to TIME, time-consciousness, time-control:
There are the “HUSTLERS”:
those people who tend to obsess about time, RACE against the clock, likely always “busy”, very serious about their calendar, very serious about their outcomes, very serious about tomorrow…
Then there are the “HIPPIES”:
those people who seek to “liberate” themselves from the tyranny of the fast-paced, future-obsessed, always-busy, coldly effective world. They want to stop and smell the roses. They want to get present. They want to enjoy the moment. And they will throw away the clock.
Both are wrong. Both lack nuance.
Neither is conscious.
THE GOAL IS TO LIVE, and to LIVE CONSCIOUSLY, RIGHT NOW.
CLOCK is a tool. TIME is a property of the universe. If you ignore it — you are choosing to be unconscious, choosing to be ignorant, choosing to be stupid
And you are giving up the choice
Which is giving up your freedom
Because freedom implies freedom to choose. And you are giving up your choice. You’re choosing not to consciously and informedly choose what you’ll do with your time.
You don’t want to throw away the fucking clock. It doesn’t solve any problem! The clock is still ticking — whether you look at it or not!
But you don’t want to obsess about the clock either,
THE GOAL IS TO LIVE, and to LIVE CONSCIOUSLY, RIGHT NOW.
The clock is NOT your enemy.
You don’t don’t have time. You HAVE time.
And you CHOOSE to use it.
The always-busy is no different to an aimless bum — he too has given up his freedom to CHOOSE what he should do with his time, do with his life
The only difference is that the bum, the hippie — is apathetic — and the hustler, the rat — is fucking frantic.
Instead,
you must simply stop yourself
AND make a conscious choice,
Every day
and every week, every month, every quarter, every year, every couple years…
…and every hour, even
Whether you’re running crazily in a direction of something you no longer even remember,
or whether you’re floating aimlessly in any direction life blows you,
you must stop yourself,
then make a conscious choice WHAT YOU WANT THIS MOMENT TO BE,
which is this hour,
this day,
and this lifetime
and THAT requires being conscious of time
and THAT requires being conscious of time
And you can become very precise with time — measure every minute — manage time like a bona fide resource, which it is
Or perhaps you don’t have to be so precise — perhaps you’re playing a very long term game — with all the patience in the world.
But in either case — you’re MAKING A CONSCIOUS CHOICE. You understand the GIFT OF TIME. And you are now consciously deciding how best to enjoy it, how best to use it.
It can be very elaborate — or it can be quite simple — but in either case — it’s conscious, it’s aware of the gift of time — and it’s a choice.
Finally
Gift implies gratitude
Those who rush are stressed. Why would you be stressed about receiving a gift?
Those who throw away clocks are disinterested, lethargic. Shouldn’t you be excited about receiving this wonderful gift of all those possibilities?
Thus both those negative attitudes to TIME are betrayed by the emotions which linger underneath
The emotion to experience instead is GRATIDUDE
And THEN — out of gratitude and appreciation for that gift — you consciously and carefully CHOOSE what best you can do with it
Which can be a very elaborate plan or quite a plain way to live and be
But it must be conscious, it must be grateful
So if you’re rushing, if you’re busy, if you’re stressed — STOP yourself
Stop yourself, DO NOTHING instead
Until you get inspired,
Then GRATEFULLY CHOOSE to follow up on that inspiration
Conversely, if you’re bored, if you’re indifferent, if you’re slothful, if you LACK THIS FIRE…
Stop yourself, take a moment to appreciate this invaluable, scarce resource,
Ask yourself what you TRULY want to do the most, in this lifetime, of all the things in this world…
Then GRATEFULLY set about this undertaking
Don’t rush, don’t slack
Be grateful
Make the most out of this life, this time