You can't change the past, but you can ruin the present by worrying about the future.
Or as The Dog Whisper Cesar Millan says..."Live in the now."
Know why dogs are so happy? Because they have no concept of time. They don’t care about the past. They don’t worry about the future. They live in the present moment, blissfully. Know why humans are so miserable? Because we obsess over time! We try to rush time. We try to slow time down. Sometimes we waste time and other times we attempt to squeeze every little drop out of time. When was the last time you looked at a clock and were truly happy with the reading? Is there ever a time when you aren’t wishing you could rearrange the hands on that clock just a little? Think you’re not obsessed with time? Then try this experiment. Go one full day without ever checking to see what time it is. It will drive you insane!
Time is our most valuable possession. We are obsessed with clocks, calendars, schedules, To-Do lists and multitasking. Still, people spend time less wisely than money. The way we perceive time is as unique as our fingerprints. Our time zones interact to create national cultures and economies. Where you live in the world and your religion shape how you perceive time. Every significant choice we make, every important decision, is determined by our perspective on time. It can dictate our success in school. It can sabotage our career or help us gain a promotion. It can affect our health and finances. It can influence our relationships with friends and loved ones. It even has the power to make us happy, or not. Yet we are virtually unaware of its effects.
University of Stanford Psychology Professor and author of "The Time Paradox," Philip Zimbardo, draws on 30 years of pioneering research to reveal how your individual time perspective shapes your life and is shaped by the world around you. Professor Zimbardo’s original classroom-style lecture on the secret powers of time is nearly an hour long, but most people aren’t willing to spend that amount of their "time" soaking in such wisdom. So instead the lecture has been greatly condensed into just 10 minutes and animated for a YouTube audience. Are you catching the irony here?
It's time to reclaim yesterday, enjoy today, and master tomorrow. So do your life and your sanity a favor, take 10 minutes out of your day right now to watch this video. It’s for those that are too focused on the past - those that are wrapped up in nostalgia and memories and dwell on regret and failure. It’s for those that are too focused on the present - Hedonistics that live for pleasure and avoid pain and Fate Sayers that say it doesn’t pay to plan, that life is fated. And it’s for those that are too focused on the future - the workaholics and worry warts. In short, it's for every one of us whose mind is imprisoned by time.
It's time to break free.
15 comments:
I've actually taken a day where I never looked at the clock, just hanging around the house doing whatever the heck I wanted. The days seem so much longer, but in such a good way. There's no drag and no "omg when is this going to be over?!?", but rather a feeling of "wow, I did so much today".
Great post.
I'm coming to this realisation a lot lately, too. I actually just wrote about the past a couple of days ago, and about how it can ruin the future by being dragged unnecessarily into it. But your present can definitely be ruined by worrying too much about the future. I think trusting that whatever is meant to happen for you and allowing things to unfold in their own time without worrying about controlling every last detail is a very freeing thing :)
I believe that people make their own luck. But when it comes to fate, I'm trying to get myself to believe the mindset of..."Everything that happens to me is the best possible thing that can happen to me."
Even if that's not true, it's comforting to buy into.
I found this post and the video quite interesting. Of course, as I was reading it and watching the video I kept think to myself, "do I really have time to fit this in when I should be finishing my discussion for class so I can post it this evening and complete two article analyses on student services and distance learning so I can move on to running the final tests on the organization's new course registration tool and make sure my invoicing grading reports are finally working properly so I can quit relying on dozens of spreadsheets filled with student data before I run off to rehearsal for the play I took a role in solely for the purpose of not having RF Community Theatre cancel another Fall show and lose income, making me look like an incompetent President?"
And then the message sunk in. I have realized that I sacrifice a lot of personal time in order to accomplish things for others (work, friends, committees on which I serve) in order to be that proper and good Scandinavian boy who puts other people's wants and needs before his.
And with your permission, I'll be sharing you post with friends.
I hear ya! And that's exactly what I'm talking about.
Here I am, still at work going on 13 hours. And even though this blog post took me maybe 20 minutes to write, I kept thinking about all the other (more productive) ways I could have been using those 20 minutes. It's a vicious cycle!
And by all means, share away.
I loved that video. It definitely puts things into perspective. My brother is an addict. I have been trying to understand him, but it is really difficult sometimes. Apparently, we are living in different "time zones". I am future, he is present hedonistic. I guess the secret is finding a balance between all of them. Nice post. :)
awesome post.
Well said, David! Some of the most miserable people I know do indeed obsess about the future, and about things that might never happen!
Wow, great video! I loved the animation, so well put together and all of it is true.
I do believe it is highly cultural. When I used to live in Europe and even when I go back to visit my family, it's always so much more calm than my life stateside. Just a completely different mindset in the little village I lived in over there. Due to my line of work now, I am constantly in the future. I have projects I'm working on right now for 2013! I definitely have to remember not to get carried away thinking about the future.
I also think it's interesting how we have so many different advances in technology like computers, smart phones, cars...even toasters! All of these things cut the time of completing tasks down tremendously! And these advances SHOULD allow us to have more free time; but somehow, that gave birth to a more stressed out society. People used to use dial-up. That took about 5-10 minutes for your computer to get online. Now we're mad if a page takes longer than 30 seconds to load.It really is a shame.
Thanks for this post. ^_^ Makes you think about time in a different way.
I really enjoyed that. Fascinating!
Great post & even more interesting of a video.
I think as human beings we are so intertwined in trying to be in control, that we even try to control time. Which can be somewhat of a paradox considering it's impossible to do. Like John Lennon once said "life it's what happens to you, while you're busy making other plans".
His talk applies mostly to America. Coming from a country near the equator which is not yet taken over by technology, I feel kinda thankful ;-)But he is right about our religion and culture affecting our perspective on time.
Gosh, what an amazing post!
I spent the summer living in Italia, and I have been going crazy trying to pinpoint exactly what it is that I loved so much while I was there. Everything he said made so much sense finally!
You have a really wonderful writing style, I always enjoy reading your blog.
This is an EXCELLENT blog! I loved the video, and everything you say is true. Very good!! I'm going to post this video on my blog and talk about something similar... and you'll definitely get a shout out. Thanks!
So glad you enjoyed it and shoutouts are always much appreciated - thanks!
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