Time is a boon beyond price. Time is worth its weight in gold. Time, the most indispensable possession one could ever have. Yet, time is the most overlooked ingredient of our lives.
No, I am not saying that we overlook the ticking clock. We have this inbuilt calculator within ourselves that keeps the track of time and urges us to finish the next important task. Let’s kill time! – The axiom of the modern-day life. I am digging for something more here.
Neil Alden Armstrong was an American astronaut and the first person to walk on the Moon. He figured out the value of time as soon as he encountered death. When he risked it all to reach the moon, he realized how precious life was. How many of us measure life by seconds? How many times do we think, with each passing second, we are getting closer to death? It is when we realize that death is closer, we fully surrender to life. So, with each passing second, we could actually come closer to life. Some of us would have had experiences that have moved us to think differently about life -survived major accidents, or recovered from life-threatening diseases; However, most of us struggle throughout life to figure out how to fully live.
Why do we need such incidents to remind us what we really need to do in this life? Why do we need a jolt to tell us what needs to be done with this precious time? How about being self-motivated? If we knew how extraordinarily blessed we are to have been given this life, we wouldn’t waste a second. If we constantly remind ourselves that we are born for a reason, we’d probably end up doing something great with it.
Leo Christopher rightly puts it: There’s only one thing more precious than our time and that’s who we spend it on. Who we spend it on? Interesting! We seem to spend it on almost everybody and everything that drains our energy and wrecks our happiness. Isn’t it? It is more likely since according to the results of the study performed all across the globe by World Health Organization, an estimated 350 million people of all ages suffer from depression. Now, of course, there are various reasons that cause depression, but definitely, not spending enough time on the things we want to do and not letting go of the things that exhaust us, contributes to frustration and resentment- the constituents of depression.
So, the question is, how do we spend our time on the things that make us happy? How do we create more time for the things that we want to do? The answer is simple, yet an arduous task to do. We need to learn to let go. We need to leave behind the things that do nothing good for us.
Dr. Lawrence, in his article on ‘letting go’, explained how important it is to make letting go, a habit. He wrote, “The path to health and happiness is often not a path of adding to or gaining something, but of removal or letting go. This is a critical principle of healing that is rarely discussed. The media, books and even parents often encourage us to obtain more, to attain great heights, to grow and accumulate degrees, things, friends, children, money and so on. All of this has its place. However, it’s opposite – learning to let go of the past, in particular, and of all attitudes, emotions, things, friends and other “baggage” that are holding one back – is often a hidden key to happiness and healing. It is a must to make room for more wonderful things to come”. He then concluded the article by writing, “Letting go of unwanted things, habits, attitudes beliefs and even people is an ongoing process for anyone who wishes to unfold spiritually. Allowing and accepting more of who you really are requires reflection, always involves some pain and suffering, and requires loads of compassion for oneself and everyone around you. As much as possible, relax, enjoy it and celebrate the process as often as you can. Know that letting go, which children are often better at doing, is the key to your growth and development throughout life.”
Okay, so this makes complete sense. If I spend less time on things that engulf my mental freedom, I would be left with so much happiness. And, when I would be gleeful, I’d spend all my time on the things that would make me even happier. Wow! It was that simple? Yes, it was, but what we forget is, this task is an ongoing one which is why it is a back-breaking undertaking.
The power of letting go is well explained by Christina Hendricks, an American actress, nominated for six Emmy awards. The Esquire magazine named Hendricks, “the sexiest woman in the world”, but life always wasn’t a bed of roses for her. She confessed that she was once a tortured high school student since she was bullied. She said in an interview, ‘If I could go back and tell my 14-year-old self anything it would be, don’t worry. You’re going to be doing exactly what you want to be doing and those people, who are assholes now, are still going to be assholes in 20 years. So, let it go’!
All in all, there would be times where you’d feel you’ve, yet again, slipped down the memory lane, re-experiencing the aching moments, the moments you’d thought, destroyed you; However, you need to dispel your fears and bolster your confidence by telling yourself that what you feel, is temporary and what you want to hold on to, is this thought- When I’d let go, I’d be free and when I’d be free, like a bird, I would sing lullabies and celebrate my happiness, and with more happiness, I would create more time to build further rainbows. Oh, I would create my own blissful World!
Annie Slach 