Does knowledge of the end make everything easier? Does our understanding and acceptance that we're all going to die some day somehow unconsciously help us get through the toughest times in our lives? Does our subconscious mind tell us that we've got nowhere else to go until the day we die, so why not just push on? This directly relates to what I said in my earlier post, Timeless Living. Maybe the unconscious anticipation of the end makes us grow old quicker.
Have you ever noticed how when you're on a trip somewhere, say vacation for example, the trip there always seems longer than the trip back? I noticed this when I was younger, traveling to different places for business with my family. I came to the conclusion that the time differences are 100% related to our anticipation. We're excited and looking forward to reaching our destination, so we're more aware of the time as it goes by. Each moment we ask ourselves "How much longer?" "What will we do and see when we get there?" "What will it look like?" "I can't wait to get there, it's going to be so much fun!". All these thoughts make us aware of the moment, and being aware of the moment makes the moment last longer.
However, when vacation is over and we're on our way back home, we don't have the same anticipation for our destination. We already know what awaits us when we arrive, and if anything we'd rather delay getting there. So we sit back and relax, and instead of thinking about the moment we think about the past; we think about everything we've done while we were on vacation. So what happens? Time speeds up, and the very thing we wished we could delay arrives sooner.
How can you stay young forever if you can't even remain who you are in the moment? You're life is a rope, strung over the edge of a tall wall. You need to get to the other side and you've already climbed 1/4 the way up, your present. The bottom half of the rope, your past, is on fire and is burning fast. Do you jump for the top of the wall, your future, and risk falling? Climbing back down would be stupid, as the rope is only getting shorter. You stay in the moment, slowly and steadily moving forward until you've reached the end. The only thing you need to know about your past is that it's gotten you to where you are now.
It's amazing how much the concept of time is ingrained into us. Try, for a moment, to imagine that there is no time. No past, no present, no future. It's hard. You have to take everything as a whole, instead of placing things on a time line. The idea of time makes our life easier and more predictable so we readily accept it.
Odd, I think all this pondering about life and time is making my life pass by quicker...
i think its cool that you think about this stuff, a lot. some people, like me, hate to think about things like this. thats probably why i feel so stuck all the time.
I actually don’t think about it all the time. It’s just when a thought comes along that I find interesting, I’ll jot it down and later when I get home from work I’ll start typing a post about the thought. From there, I just let my thoughts on the thought flow from my head to my fingers.
Pretty much the only time I actually think about this stuff is while I’m writing the post. 🙂
“I just let my thoughts on the thought flow from my head to my fingers.”
Better they flow thru your fingers and not somewhere else.
The last 2 weeks (2005) that I spent in Vietnam seemed like a month, but yet it seems like it just happened yesterday.
My father’s been dying to go back and visit South Vietnam. It’s been over 20 years now since he’s seen his mother.
One of these days when .. well, more like an IF I ever save enough money, I wanna take him there.
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Hey Raam, who am i? –> “You can do it!” .. haha, i don’t think i’ll ever grow up — now i need to find some work … somewhere in the office to do … huyyy
In reply to Tom’s post – visit my site for 100+ photos…
http://www.vnphotogallery.com
Sorry for the Highjack Raam. 🙂