Before the first day, I was here.
After the last day, I will be here.
And I will be here every moment in between.
So you see, time as you conceive of it has no meaning for me. To me, it is quite literally all the same. There is no past. There is no future. To me, there is only NOW.
So what exactly is time? Note my choice of words above: “Time as you conceive of it . . .”
Time is something YOU conceive of. Pay close attention to this, for I am about to reveal the legendary “secret of time.”
Time is a mental fabrication. You made it up. It is an illusion.
This sounds strange until you look at how your species arbitrarily manipulates time. “Daylight Savings Time.” “Central Standard Time.” “Leap Year.” All of these are completely made up, with rules that have meaning only because you give them meaning.
In 2007, American leaders chose to expand Daylight Savings Time in both the Spring and Fall. Your “Leap Year” adds a day every four years. And if you look at a time zone map, you will see squiggly lines showing where one time zone ends and another begins. Who drew those lines?
I didn’t. You did.
Who decided how many moments are in a second? Or that 60 seconds would be a minute? That 60 minutes made an hour? Days, weeks, months, years? Roughly 2,000 years ago, a group of you decided that, upon the birth of Christ, you should “reset” the counter to zero.
It’s all made up. So:
Secret of Time #1: Time exists nowhere other than your mind.
Secret of Time #2: You are the one who gives time its meaning in your life.
I know what you are thinking. “What about all of my memories? What about history? Are you saying these things didn’t happen?”
Far from it. But your memories of events, including your history, all exist in your head. These events are not happening NOW. Even the breath you just exhaled instantly becomes a memory, which exists only in your mind.
This is not to take away from your experience, just to put it into perspective.
Many of you live in the so-called “past” — which is to say, you live inside a mental construct of how you think your life has been so far. Whether these are past glories or past heartaches, it is still the “past,” which exists nowhere other than your mind.
There are occasions when living in “the past” serves you; there are others when it does not. In either case, it is entirely up to you to choose which mental construction you want to live in. This choice can only be made in the eternal moment of NOW.
Secret of Time #3: NOW is the only moment that matters.
Both “the past” and “the future” exist only in your mind — they are figments of your imagination. The only time that truly matters, then, is NOW.
This is not a license to live with reckless abandon, although you may certainly choose to do so. Remember, there are still consequences to your actions, reckless or not.
Instead, think of the eternal moment of NOW as your opportunity to make a conscious choice about who you are being. All the power you need to transform your life can be found in this simple question:
“Who am I choosing to be right NOW?”
Up until now, you may have chosen to be angry, sad, victimized, emotionally numb, frustrated . . . and so on. It is certainly within your God-given rights to choose from any of these, or none of them.
But remember this: Each NOW moment offers a chance to choose again. The moment of NOW is a blank slate, and you choose what to write on it. So whoever you have chosen to be before now does not matter. All that matters is who you are choosing to be right NOW.
Right NOW, you may choose to be happy, joyous, peaceful, loving and so on. It is certainly within your God-given rights to choose from any of these, or none of them. It ultimately boils down to who you choose to be NOW. For guidance on that, simply listen to your Inner Truth, as discussed elsewhere in this message.
There it is. You now know the Secrets of Time. Putting them to work is another matter.
If you want to experience a sustained transformation in your life, it will require mental discipline. It will require you to constantly be aware of the choices you are making in this eternal moment of NOW, followed by acting out of that awareness.
Conscious choice followed by conscious action.
It is a lifelong exercise, and you will occasionally fall short of your ideals. But as you practice the skill of conscious choice, you will learn that it is a worthwhile pursuit, and eventually, conscious choice will become its own reward.
Be prepared, however. Others will attempt to hold you in your past. You may even have difficulty leaving the past behind, if for no other reason than you have to deal with the consequences of past choices.
Simply remember that you can choose NOW who you want to be in relation to your past. This may not be always be easy, but it is always worthwhile.
Therefore, be mindful of your past, for it holds valuable lessons for you. But do not dwell on it, or it will trap you.
Be mindful also of your future, for your vision of the future will shape your future. But do not dwell on it, or it will distract you.
Choose to stay present in this moment. Experience the simple wonders of this moment and be grateful.
NOW is the time to listen to your Inner Truth — and live from it.
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