There is a silly little saying among those who practice
meditation:
This is one of my very favourite side effects of meditation
– the gift of time!
Before I began my practice I was a warrior of frantic
doing-ness. There was always somewhere I had to be, someone I had to meet, some
‘thing’ I had to get made or baked or cleaned, dropped off, picked up or
planned. Even the most well calculated day was assuredly destined for a mid-execution
schedule redesign. No person or project in my circle was free from the threat of
concession... and it was familiar. I wanted to do it all, like I knew I could….if
I only had enough time.
I wanted more time to get things done, more time to
linger, to rest, to play and to enjoy. I wanted to be one of those people who
had time to tie her green beans into tiny bundles and spend Tuesday night at
the movies with a friend. I settled for time to pee.
The very notion that in the midst of a full schedule I would
consider squeezing in 30 minutes for meditation each day is probably evidence
of some borderline delusion illness. I should probably have gone to have my
head examined.
But I didn’t, I went instead to sit in a chair quietly for
30 minutes – I managed 5 before my brain butted in and reminded me that I didn’t
have time to sit and do nothing.
5 minutes…I managed that every day for a few weeks, then I
managed 10. Eventually I managed 20 then 30…today I could probably manage an
hour or more… if people would just stop needing to be fed.
The amazing thing is that I ‘found the time’ without
removing anything; I didn’t sacrifice a single item on my to-do list to make
room for meditation. Meditation made room for itself.
More than that, it made room for everything else on my
list—everything! From cleaning the stove to painting my toe nails! Room to
watch movies with my family on a weeknight, room to get the laundry folded and
the teenagers shuttled back and forth to work. I rarely miss a hockey game
and I found time to stop for coffee on the way to the arena. It’s crazy! (‘Amazing’ crazy not ‘get your
head examined’ crazy) Beyond having enough time I actually have extra time…(Spare time—I think it’s
called)……I can’t even make this up—such a thing does exist! ….Time to read, to write,
to keep the rink, to go to the movies, the mall, and to linger at the kitchen
table.
I have so much time I am baking
biscuits for Sunday supper and washing dishes before I leave for work in the
morning. I shovel the driveway because I have nothing more pressing to do and I
linger in the shelves of the library far longer than I should have the right
to.
It sounds too good to be true, there are still only 24 hours
in a day and I sleep for at least 8 of those!
Nobody arrived with a magic wand
or a time machine I did it all by myself, 5 minutes at a time. I want to tell
you how Meditation magically makes time move more slowly and frees up so much space
in a schedule but I’m not sure that I would explain it easily. It just does.
Perhaps it is because things become less urgent, less necessary,
and less critical. Maybe it’s the stress reduction or the pace reduction. Maybe
it is because a light shines on what truly matters and filters out the noise
and bustle of the ‘have to-s’and the 'should do-s'. Maybe in ‘the quiet’ a mind subconsciously
organizes and prioritizes and knocks things off the list that don’t really need
to be there.
Do I care how it happens, what the science behind the
phenomenon is?
No.
I have found an explanation that will suffice. Meditation is
a solid sure path to your nature and….
Gratefully,
Love
M
