Time enough for what matters

(Originally published 10 June 2012) 

My team huddles “You have time for what matters most.” and today's status “BLESSEDBEING just finished reading Chopra's RTB, RTS Breakthrough #5: Time Isn't Your Enemy. Awesome! Blog to come. (Teaser: Diet & exercise are NOT the main keys to anti-aging.)” gave a preview to this blog.

Deepak Chopra wrote Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul in 2009. I'm still slogging through Quantum Healing at work, reading over my lunch hour; it was written in the 80's, more dry science, less humor and poetry. In contrast, I was reading the newer book on the elliptical machine at the club today, alternately laughing and crying. There is such power, such beauty, such simplicity to his message. This may be my favorite book of his so far.

I had gotten a hint when I read The Essential Ageless Body, Timeless Mind (condensed from that popular work from 15 years ago) about the mistaken beliefs we have about time. I've started using an affirmation "there is plenty of time for what matters most." It helps me feel less worried and more relaxed.

Chopra contends "Mastery over time is built into you." He describes the amazing processes all utilizing vastly different timelines being directed and coordinated by your DNA and concludes "your body is far from being time's victim; on the contrary, it orchestrates time to your benefit. Once you force upon the body your own fears and negative beliefs about time, however, the trouble begins." He discusses the assumption that there isn't enough time (citing the scary metaphor of DEADlines) & how stress breaks down the body and its ability to renew itself. "When you focus anti-aging on the physical leve—on exercise, diet, vitamins, anti-oxidants, weight loss, cosmetics, and plastic surgery—you bypass the invisible level that is far more important."

He cites the following invisible culprits as doing the greatest damage: unpredictability, disorder & confusion, accidents, trauma & sickness, violence, chaos. He lists 18 habits to cultivate in the section Making Time Your Ally, beginning with "Keep regular hours, eat and sleep on a regular schedule" and ending with "Live as if you have all the time in the world."

He makes the amazing claim "Your ultimate goal, living as if you have all the time in the world, is functional immortality. This happens to be how every cell in your body is already living." The enemy, he says, is the "breakdown of flow." To help reverse the process he suggests 4 simple exercises (pp 156-161 of the large print version): quiet your internal dialogue, discharge tension, a purifying light visualization, and toning.

Achieving true happiness, vibrant health, and well-being (which is far more than a mere absence of disease or pain) requires that we pay attention to more than just the amount of food we consume and the calories we expend. There are untold dreams and miracles awaiting us. We have the time to discover them.

Blessed Be, Amanda