Time

“Until I am measured, I am not known. Yet how you miss me when I have flown. What am I?”  Have you ever thought about how fascinated we are with time? Unlike physical objects, time cannot be seen or felt, so it’s difficult to understand and quantify. Time is central to our lives and affects everything we do.

Because no one can avoid it, the passage of time is a universal truth everyone can relate to. The idea that there is a finite amount of time or that it is running out heightens the value we attach to it.

Anxiety around time is often more about finding meaning in, and not wasting it (time). Existential dread, which might include thoughts like “why am I here,” or “am I doing enough?” can fuel worries about wasting your life or failing to live up to your potential. So how can we manage anxiety around time?

In the book “The Comfort Crisis,” by Michael Easter (2021), he shares his travels to the country of Bhutan, where people report happiness higher than most western countries including the US. In Bhutan, they bring awareness of the passage of time into their culture and make awareness of their impending death part of living life. Bhutanese art often centers around death and ashes of the dead are mixed in with clay and used in small pyramids called tsha-tshas. On the surface, this sounds morbid, but the wisdom in this philosophy is profound. According to Lama Damcho Gyeltshen, our minds carry three delusions: greed, anger, and ignorance.  Dying people free themselves from these delusions and focus on what matters. So, the awareness that we are dying, can help us rid ourselves of these delusions and live better. An important Buddhist teaching, Mitaka, means that nothing lasts forever, including life.

Try meditating  about the time you have left. Would you be happy with your life if you only had one week left? How do you want to live the rest of your days? What would happen if you gave up greed, anger, and ignorance, and focused on what matters most to you?  Is it about making the world a better place, sharing your faith with others, taking care of your family and friends, or something else? Listen to Tim McGraw’s wisdom in his song, “Live like you were dying.” Why not live today in a way that brings you meaning or joy?