Back in the late 70’s I was working at the
Boeing-Vertol Company in the Tech Manual Group creating pen & ink
technical illustrations for helicopter and train assembly manuals. While
working there I got to know the older guy next to me and came to find out
that he was only there to rebuild his cash reserve so that he could do
what he REALLY loved. Sam absolutely loved horse racing and apparently had
a “system” that regularly made him money at the track. The reason he was
“rebuilding his cash reserve” was because he’d had his pocket picked one
day at the track and lost A BUNDLE!
Sam was an interesting, although somewhat cranky guy and one day he was
lamenting being there and made a humorous statement. He told me that he’d
been working on a pet project for some time. I asked him what it was and
he very seriously said, “I’m working on the Expansion and Contraction of
Time. I want to expand time from 5 PM till bed time and from Friday at 5
PM to Sunday at bed time. And I want to contract time from 8 AM to 5 PM
every day while I’m at work! I want to do this because it seems like it’s
the other way around. My evenings and weekends fly by and the work day
just drags along!”
I think this is something that most working people can relate to. I sure
did. And since I’d never heard anyone express an idea as far out as that,
I rather anxiously asked if he’d figured it out. “Nope! Don’t have a
clue!” said Sam. We both had a chuckle and went back to our drawing
boards. I haven’t seen Sam since ‘79 and have no idea if he ever figured
it out. But I did! Or I should say, I stumbled across a technique for
doing just that in an amazing book by Tim Piering titled, “Mastery”. (see
the back of the book for a full list of books referenced here) When I
started using it, I got immediate and dramatic results.
Before I get into the “how to” part, I’d like to say that it had always
bothered me when I heard co-workers say things like, “Is it Friday yet?”
when it was only Monday morning! “Another day, another half dollar...” or
“Why does it have to be this way?” or “ Here we go again...” or the one I
really disdain, “S.O.S., Same Old Stuff, and then you die!” What a way to
move through your day!!! Start piling up days like that and it’s no wonder
nearly everyone you see is gloomy.
The actual “Expansion and Contraction of Time” is really a mind trick, but
it DOES work. This is deceivingly simple, but effective, when you remember
to do it. What you are really doing is altering your “perception” of time
by making alternate decisions. Stay with me because THIS DOES WORK!
To Expand Time You...
Become sensory oriented. Your five senses pull in an amazing amount of
information. You become sensory oriented by paying close attention to as
much of your incoming sensory data as you can. By paying attention to what
you see, hear, smell, taste, and touch there is “more of you” in the
moment. When you maintain a high level of attention, moment, to moment, to
moment, you are registering more of reality than what you usually do.
Here’s an example how it could be during the morning drive to work.
You leave the house and notice the change of air temperature and how the
rising sun shines on things from a low angle... You notice the dew all
over everything... You notice all of the natural and man made sounds... As
you are driving you notice how everything moves about... At stop lights
you notice what’s around you, the trees, bushs, birds, people, kids at the
bus stop, other drivers trying to wake up...
Essentially what you are doing is an “attention meditation.” By the time
you get to work, you will have logged into your biocomputer more conscious
awareness than you usually do in a day! Think about it. How many times
have we all done just the opposite? You arrived at your destination and
don’t really remembered very much of the drive. Or, you’re on an
interstate highway and all of a sudden... you’re not sure of exactly where
you are! Kind of spooky, isn’t it? Makes you wonder “who’s driving?” It’s
true, we blank out many, many times every day.
You can EXPAND you perception of time by putting MORE attention into
whatever it is that you are doing. Don’t take my word for it, just go do
it. Do this when you leave work and you’ll find that the six or seven
hours you have until bed time will seem like an entire day. REALLY!!! I’m
NOT joking! This is because you are spending more moment-to-moment time
being more “in the present moment” than you usually do. At the end of your
day, you’ll find that you’ve had a VERY full day. A day that was LOADED
with experiences because you brought more awareness, more of “you” into
each moment.
Want to take a vacation this weekend? Become sensory oriented starting
Friday evening as you are leaving your job and by Sunday at bedtime it
will seem like its been ages since you were at the office. This is a
simple little “mind game” you can play on yourself that costs you nothing,
requires no effort but can yield MAJOR results. Don’t be bothered trying
to figure out “how” it works, just try it for yourself and see.
Let’s face it, the ONLY time that you can live in is NOW. We exist in the
Eternal Moment of Now... Always have... Always will. Here’s a little joke
I use in my Reiki classes. I'd ask, “What time is it?” And a few people
look at their wrist watch and tell me what their watch is indicating. Then
I say, “Sorry, that was a trick question. The time is NOW.”
However, your day is made up of an infinite number of “now moments” most
to which we hardly pay any attention.
The end result is that you walk into the office on Monday morning and ask,
“Is it Friday yet?” I asked someone who said that, “Do you mean that you
only live for two out of seven days a week?” How sad!
This simple little mind game can create a shift in your awareness that can
add depth and meaning to your experience of life. Why not notice the dew,
and the sky, and the kids at the bus stop, and all the other things that
are happening? Why not? You’re there... they are there... be with it...
enjoy it... put joy into the moment... it’s the only place you can put joy
into. Enjoy... In-Joy... put joy into the experience!
One of my favorite teachers, Earl Nightingale, founder of the Nightingale-Connant
Company, said many things that have helped me, but related to what we’re
talking about here, Earl said, “It’s a wonderful thing to take a moment or
two every day, and just stop and say to yourself, ‘I’m here... I’m sensing
this moment.’ Just like expanding your perception of time, this can add
depth to your experience of life.
To Contract Time You...
If you want to “contract time" all you have to do is GET INTO IT... DIVE
INTO IT... EMERCE YOURSELF INTO IT... COMPLETELY ENGAGE YOURSELF in
whatever you are doing and your perception of time WILL contract!
We’ve all done this thousands of times, usually during the time we DON’T
want to have it happen! You’ve all had experiences where you get to the
office, get busy and before you know it, it’s 11:50. “Where’d the morning
go?!” you ask. Time, or at least your perception of it, sped up and it was
later than you realized because you were totally engaged in what you were
doing. This is what happens during the evening and on the weekends. We get
so into whatever is going on that “time flies by.” You’ve heard the
expression, “Time flies when you’re having fun.” Who knows who coined that
one, but I’ll bet that it’s a VERY old expression.
But the truth of the matter is that time DOESN’T HAVE TO fly bye when
you’re having fun. That’s not a rule! If you’re having a good time, bring
awareness to every nano-second of what you’re doing. Okay, maybe every
nano-second is a little much, just do it as much as you can.
And if you’re doing a task that you don’t particularly enjoy, just dive
in. I’ve never enjoyed balancing my checking account. Even with Quicken, I
don’t like it. But, when it’s that time, I just GET INTO IT, and before I
know it, POOF!... I’m done.
We all have unknowingly done this “Time Expansion/Contraction” trick
thousands of times in our lives. But in the model I’m presenting here, you
are doing it in reverse of the way we’ve all been cultured to perceiving
time. This is an option that we’ve always had but it wasn’t readily
apparent. Don’t let the simplicity of this preclude you from using it.
This is a very powerful tool for perceptual change. And remember,
perception is everything.
If after reading, this you have an “uh huh!!!” kind of experience and then
go out and use it, be prepared for the following changes.
WARNING!!! DO NOT USE THIS TECHNIQUE UNLESS YOU ARE WILLING TO HAVE THE
FOLLOWING THINGS HAPPEN IN YOUR LIFE EXPERIENCE!
* A sense of fulfillment at the end of the day.
* A sense that you had plenty of time during your day.
* A sense of very long weekends.
* A sense of being really alive.
* A sense of joy.
* A sense of ease.
* A sense of okay-ness.
* A sense that your love-making lasted a long time.
* Quality time with the important people in your life has even
more “quality.”
The New Time Model
Be aware of the fact that what you are doing here is working with a new
model of “time.” Because the Western mind thinks “linear”, we have a
Linear Time Model. We think of time as a “time line” where there are equal
incremental units of time, like a yard-stick. Yesterday, today and
tomorrow all have the same incremental value. Here’s where we get tripped
up.
When we see yesterday, today, and tomorrow as equal units, this is what
happens. You get an idea to start a new project. You visualize it, make it
real in your mind’s eye, etc. Then the mind says, “I’ll start this,
TOMORROW.” And it lives there, shimmering in your mental out-picturing.
Then tomorrow arrives, and it’s just another TODAY just like the today you
were experiencing when you first saw that golden image of your desired
goal. But because your perception of past, present, and future are all
equal (the “time-line” model of time), it’s easy to put it off into
another “tomorrow”, or another “later.”
This is how golden dreams can slip away.
But I want to suggest a different way of perceiving time, that is “NOW”
oriented. If you see the moment of “now” as being a huge pie that has a
98% value and the “past” and “future” as very small slices each having a
1% value, can you see how that would shift your perceptions? “NOW” is
where everything happens.
We can ONLY take action “NOW.”
Even your plans for what will be “addressed later,” happen in the NOW. Can
you “see” how if you put a value of 98% on the present, and use the past
1% as a reference point for where you’ve been, and the future 1% as a
guide for the direction you want to move towards... you will be in the
most effective place you can be with 98% of your focused attention on what
you’re doing?
Can you “get” that?
What an interesting place to be. The ancient Greeks knew what they were
talking about when one of them first thought, “Carpe diem” ... “seize the
day!”
A note of seriousness here. I don’t want you to form the conclusion that I
am suggesting a “Live for the moment and to heck with tomorrow,”
philosophy. DEFINITELY NOT! Practice goal setting. It’s important to
think and plan your future. But the “1% - 98% - 1%” - past-present-future
time model will load your day with more perceived experiences and quality
than you’ll probably used to. The only way to truly experience what we are
talking about is to.... try it... you might like it...
So, have fun, and take your time!
*********************************************
K. Scott Teeters is a Reiki Master and author of" It’s Time To Wake Up:
Reiki & Other Essential Tools For Spiritual Awakening" published by
Llumina Press. Scott’s website is a metaphysical candy shop loaded with
essays, insights, awakening tools and tips, amazing images, and fun,
conscious living gift items.
Scott lives in Medford, NJ with his wife and business partner Karen, Spudz
their new beagle dog, Mittins the tuxedo cat and Twiggy the tabby cat.
Their website address is:
http://www.itstimetowakeup.com/
