Time, an illusion that controls our lives

Time does not exist, only in our minds, it is a construct created to keep our consciousness subordinate, in compliance and always in need to be somewhere else other than ‘here’. Through conditioning our minds have become mostly fixated on future thinking; “I need to go there,” “I want this by this date,” “I need the future to come along so things will change.”

Many of us are addicted to clock watching, a mental activity associated with redirecting our conscious awareness from the immediate circumstances of our lives. Focusing on time takes our full conscious awareness away from the only real ‘time’ of our lives and that is in the present moment, the now. Otherwise referred to as the enlightened stage of consciousness many spiritual teachers have spoken about. When our full attention is not on the present moment, we are literally killing away the life energy of our human existence. Of course, in the modern era it is essential we have some awareness of time otherwise we would be late for our jobs and not turn up at prearranged dates with friends and family. However, once we are ‘there’ like for example arriving at our jobs, it is often the case we are not really ‘there’. At work we may be consumed with thinking about our lunches, what chores need to be done later that day, did I upset my boss the other day. It is like our minds cannot stay focused on the immediate present, our minds are always finding a way to search for distractions from the now. Once aware of this mental activity which you will be now that you have read this far, it is quite easy to reflect on your thoughts when they arise and observe them. Once you become the observer of your thoughts, instead of ‘being the thought’ then you can take direct action and shift your focus. The now will always be with us for the rest of our lives, there is no yesterday or tomorrow in the now, and the now is what your life will always be. So by focusing on the now we can be free of depression (past thinking), anxiety (future thinking) and give anything in front of us our full immediate and infinite awareness. This can be as simple as listening to someone without thinking what you should say next, it can be writing an email with full absorption and it can be eating food with full attention on the taste, texture, smell.

Our lives are but a drop in the ocean with regards to how ‘long’ the universe has existed. Use your ‘time’ wisely and mindfully. Use your time to spread love to others, to heal others, to be happy in the now, to focus on growth and being fully present in thoughts, emotions and behaviours. Our lives are the greatest of all gifts in the universe, to waste our “time” on this planet by being fixated on clock time is the biggest disservice there can be to ourselves and the world.

Rethinking 'Success'

In 2016, we are bombarded with countless images of what “success” looks like. This is happening at a rate greater than any historical time period up until this moment due to the advanced technological world we inhabit. It is the exposure to media on our smartphones, televisions and newspapers which drill home this idea; owning a 5-bedroom plus house, owning an expensive sports car, obtaining the physically attractive husband/wife, becoming a self-made millionaire, becoming famous, wearing designer clothing and being popular socially.

Let us take a step back, these images portrayed are selective, distorted and seduce us with individualistic and crucially unrealistic ideals for the average person like you and I. What is there to stop us from approaching “success” with a more critical and creative vantage point.

‘Success’ represents a move forward into the future which is labelled by us as something “better”, “greater”, than what we already were prior. Success therefore, is a progression in wealth, fashion and status according to the ego-driven culture which created it. But notice the key is success is a label defined and maintained through us the people. If we have a certain perspective on success, then inevitably we have already set our limits to what “better”, “greater” and “happier” means. Does this mean a richer man is a “better” human being than a “poor man”? No, it simply is a representation of our cultured beliefs. Remember, a belief is just that, a subjective perspective.

See, the images we consume from media, the ideas we internalize from others and not listening to our inner selves has led to a world where we have created an unrealistic image of success. Yet “successful” individuals (if such an objective judgement is possible) may possess more material objects and hold higher status than the majority of us, it does not protect them from feeling isolated, depressed and being unfulfilled spiritually. Ok, you made it to the “top” but what now? What more is there to achieve if you already possess everything society tells you are the ultimate goals. Actually, it may be the case you sacrificed loved ones and romances and now live in regret of irreversible life choices.

Friends, let us work together to extinguish this outdated and potentially damaging belief system and work towards fixing our damaged egos and inner contentment. I’m speaking to you reading this, this very moment. Whatever your job status, wealth, successes and failures, unachieved dreams, desires and goals. You are the most important and successful person in the world right now, YOU matter, your opinions, your undeniably unique and multi-layered perspective on the world. Without you, your family, friends and colleagues would not be the same without you. You offer something no one else can replace, you are valuable whether you realize it or not. Does your younger sibling look up to you as a role model? Then you’re successful. You have stayed strong despite adversity in your life and continue to enjoy your life and make others happy? Then you’re successful. You earned that new promotion in your job? Then you’re successful. Let’s stop focusing on reaching for a materialistic-driven “successful” lifestyle when you already are the most successful person at being you. Let’s stop comparing ourselves to each other, we all embark unique journey’s. If we are to realize our success in our own lives’ we need to transcend this outdated and immature belief system that wealth, status and popularity equates to “being better”. The only life change we need to make to become successful is to simply change our mindsets. We have to remind ourselves to start celebrating our own personal achievements, praise our growth and those around us. Within this generation what is stopping us from rewriting the Oxford dictionary definition of “successful” collectively? If you are aspiring to become something greater than what you are right now in whatever domain great, but understand success is a journey not a destination. Success is influencing the people around you right now positively, success is becoming a better “you”, success is therefore impossible to define universally because ultimately you the reader can choose at any moment in your life what constitutes success and continue to redefine this for yourself.

Working on Yourself

The self is the illusion constructed by culture, governments, the media and ultimately your family and friends. It is your social identity which is used by people to make snap judgements about yourself and your personality. The self is an illusion determined by others opinions. To go further, how others perceive you is how they perceive themselves. We might deduce from this that the socially constructed version of your self is nothing more than a subjective interpretation. Therefore, to truly understand and to know your “true self” requires attention to the observation of your thoughts, words and behaviours. This process of self-understanding is a lifetime journey and requires daily introspection and analysis. Once you begin to become consciously aware of yourself in your day-to-day routine you will start to notice things about yourself that you would have not otherwise noticed. This includes how you interact with others, when you get depressed/anxious thoughts or realizing you walk around unconsciously with a negative state of mind. Although a painful process, the rewards far outweigh any struggle you have to go through in order to learn the lessons. This is the school of life, continual and persistent effort towards evolving one’s mental universe. This opens the door principally for eliminating fear, taking new opportunities, having self-belief in your goals and an inescapable state of mind where you feel the drive to lift others around you and to improve them. Working on yourself requires sensitivity to your imperfectness and loving yourself for who you are. It also provides a platform for change in your life and the happiness you give and take. We all have the opportunity to improve ourselves daily. Do not fight the universe, move with the flow of spontaneity and happiness. The only thing you require is intention, this is a direct vision of your dream, where you’re heading. This will only work if your dream is so unimaginable people simply laugh at you when you tell them. We all have the capacity for greatness beyond our wildest dreams. The only way to achieve this is to work on becoming a better ‘you’, from your perspective not anyone else’s.

Psychological Armour

The world and people are hurting you maybe more than you consciously take note of. People will tell you stories about yourself that are irrelevant to you, or they will tell stories behind your back influencing how others respond to you. The bottom line is we are each bound by our internal dialogue/dictionary. If people speak to your lower nature, it naturally has an affect. Conversely, if people speak to your higher nature (i.e. positive traits about yourself) it charges you positively and as a result you have more productive energy during the day. But what we often forget, is individuals will bring you down because of their own internal battles with the story they are trying to tell themselves. Importantly, this has nothing to do with you as a person. From the day you were conceived to the day you hit the grave, your whole life will be narrated by that voice inside your head telling you how to act, react, behave and express yourself. What we must understand is this internal narration literally writes your life out for you like a book. 

As vibrational beings we experience our realities based on our state of mind, this can be positive or negative dependent on your thoughts and emotions. What is crucial is we not only protect our internal dialogues, but that we nourish them, flower them and check their health on a regular basis. We have to understand it is our inner voice alone that counts, this is where self-love and self-respect come into play. You have to have your best interests at heart first before any other person’s opinion of you. Because many individuals who are insecure will emotionally manipulate you if you do not work on your psychological resiliency. Ways to achieve ‘psychological armour’ include positive self-affirmations (writing down on paper positive things to yourself daily), meditation practices for example focusing on your breathing and physical exercise (training one’s mind to ignore pain or the “give up” voice) and eating higher vibrational foods (organic & vegan). Each and every one of us have an obligation to ourselves to tender our psychological gardens and to grow our vocabulary’s into the vibrations of self-love, human compassion and integrity. Achieve these goals and you will find you will become mentally resilient too. Life is full of negative vibrational energy and thus it is vital we use every opportunity we have in this lifetime to train our psychological state of mind. Shielding negative vibrations ultimately provides a stable platform, for us to work on our ambitions and dreams. You already knew all of this, the purpose of this short article is to simply serve as a reminder that you are the most important person in your life.