by Gabriele Conrad, Goonellabah NSW Australia
I discovered something truly amazing this morning and it has to do with time, this precious and ever more precious commodity in all our lives.
I awoke, checked the clock and realised that I had woken up super early and in accordance to the time zone I had left the previous day to travel to Western Australia. No way was I going to get up at 15 minutes past midnight!
I snuggled back under my doona, rested for a while and then decided to use my two eye pillows. One across my eyes and one on my heart. It felt great and I was just about to relax very deeply when I went, “Wait a minute! I can’t remember putting the eye pillows there!”
I realised that I had gone into automatic pilot – one second the eye pillows had been on my bed, the next second they had somehow landed on my body. Oh yes, they felt great, but I hadn’t consciously been involved placing them there.
Where had that time gone?
It must have existed, surely – even if it was only a couple of split seconds.
And then I realised that during the day and in my daily activities, every time I am not present and involved in what I am doing I am actually squandering time. I negate time by acting like it does not exist whenever I am not present whilst at the same time lamenting the lack of time and how there is never enough of it.
I could feel that by being present I actually create space – and space equals time, whereas I have forever tried to make more time by rushing and squeezing more and more things into my minutes, hours and days.
And thus, lack of time is actually my self-perpetuated illusion and imprisonment, aided and abetted by not being present.
Thanks to Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine for the inspiration that led to the realisation. And thanks to Featherlight for their amazing eye pillows!
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
“Every time I am not present and involved in what I am doing I am actually squandering time” – how true is this. I find I also go into overwhelm and the anxiousness when I’ve gone into time.
We are bought up constantly in time, so that becomes our routine and in that we live in constant turmoil. So it’s a no wonder, our bodies become exhausted and we rely for it to be run on stimulants.
“I could feel that by being present I actually create space”, is spot on and is something I’m still developing with out perfection. If the world lived in this, then we would certainly be in a different place by now…
Time does indeed appear to be a precious commodity, but when I have connected to space, this by far exceeds any time aspects. In space, time ceases to govern you, which as Gabriele has shared is an amazing experience and one I would like to cultivate more frequently and consistently into everyday life.
Henrietta, this is spot on in your sharing of the differences. Years ago I wouldn’t have a clue what this blog was about as I was so disconnected with myself but knew something was missing in myself. Roll on post meeting Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine, and I’ve never looked back but appreciate what has been and continues to be offered.
I have experienced time warps, and this is when all of a sudden there is so much time available and I am left wondering how on earth that happened. And then there are times of course when the opposite happens and I ‘run out of time’- what you have shared here helps me understand how and why this happens Gabriele!
Such a simple blog and yet a powerful revelation and message Gabriele! Thank you!
When present in the moment we don’t make extra time but there is more space to work within.
Accommodating time accomplishes very little but when we allow ourselves o be in a rhythm that flows for our work days then we end up with all the space in the world to accomplish every task because we have released a pressure valve that is time related.
Being present with ourselves offers space – not that I always live it but I know so well the opposite. In trying to beat and go ahead of time, we give away our presence. We are always here, present, future and past, in trying to be elsewhere exactly does that.
Feeling space whilst being present feels very different to being caught in time, and rushing to get things done, ‘I could feel that by being present I actually create space – and space equals time, whereas I have forever tried to make more time by rushing and squeezing more and more things into my minutes, hours and days.’
Examining our relationship with time is part of our self care because so many of us use time to push our bodies, to rush, and to go into drive. We can also watch the clock to focus on when our work day will end, instead of being present and with ourselves in each moment and nurturing our bodies, and taking care of the quality we are moving in.
Yes, such a valid and awesome discovery, we complain about time but skip moments and longer periods of time during the day all the time. Presence is the key.
I love this blog, it is simple yet profound and is so relatable. There is a tendency to rush, rush, rush to try and create space or some ‘me time’ and yet when we are in the moment we are in there is eternal space. A trick the mind can play which seems to be entertained by complication…
True to be in union, at one with our bodies feels spacious and joyful too.
Great experiment. It is a stress on the body working against time and we never get anymore done either. I know now that whenever I remain present with my body there is always ample space. In fact it exposes the ‘illusion’ of time.
Exactly what I needed to read today, thank you Gabriele, as I’ve been noticing many times through my day where I am not aware of what I just did, and I now realise this is because I’m not present with myself.
‘Lack of time is actually my self-perpetuated illusion and imprisonment, aided and abetted by not being present.’ This is gold Gabriele, if we all fully understood this and lived by being more present in our bodies we would experience life in a totally different but amazing way. We live such a reduced and small version of ourselves if we choose to live in time and the limitations this places on us.
Brilliant point Doug and this is so true. I too have been feeling this and what you’ve expressed makes sense of why this is happening.
Wow, Gabriele, this is so powerful, ‘And thus, lack of time is actually my self-perpetuated illusion and imprisonment, aided and abetted by not being present.’ I constantly feel like I have a lack of time, even when I am not that busy. This blog is so supportive for me to read right now and to understand how this illusion is playing out throughout my day and what the cause is.
Chan I love how you have shared this with such honesty – even when we are not that busy, if we are not being present, we are governed by time and its rules and regulations. I too have experienced this as well as space where one is free of these constraints. Now to have more of the space experience rather than the time one! 🙂
I have those moments that are quite scary really when I realise I can’t remember going to the washroom or sitting there for an extended amount of time looking on my phone. Like where have I gone? And if I’m gone then what is there instead? Talk about a waste of time! We love to say ‘time flies’ but rarely ask what have we done or how present have we been over our day.
Spot on Aimee, those moments of auto-pilot are indeed very disturbing. Just like heading off and not having a recollection if I locked the front door or closed the garage door!
What a great discovery/lesson. I am continually delighted by the simplicity of the source of the many price-less lessons we are presented with, every day of our lives, but much of the time we do not clock them and so the opportunity to look at life differently simply sails on by. I, for one, am delighted that you grabbed this one and have now shared it with us.
This happens with thoughts as well. One minute I might be pondering on something, the next minute I am thinking about something completely different and cannot quite track back how I have got there.
‘I could feel that by being present I actually create space’, I love this Gabriele, such a simple movement that offers us space instead of being trapped in time and the limitations this can bring. I know which one I would rather choose to live everyday.
One thing I have just realised is that despite how weary I am, I go to bed according to what the time is, not the time that my body tells me I should go – no wonder I am so tired. This may not seem that huger deal for others but for me it is quite the revelation.
It’s similar to when and what we eat. Once we check out from our bodies we rely on time not realising we are on automatic pilot and not truly caring for ourselves. I agree, it’s a huge one.
Hmm, eating and sleeping are both basic cares and I am starting to realise that I dismiss them and take them for granted way too often.
Being present with time allows us to create to space and to connect to cycles.
Oh, how we fool ourselves so so well. We are constantly in this battle against time apparently but it seems the battle is with ourselves. We check out, avoid ourselves and as you have described we squander time. We stifle space, we stifle us – and then blame it on time.
I agree with you Katerina and this battle with ourselves is self-created which means we have the power to undo all of it at any time.
Yes and so it dismantles any illusion we have got ourselves in by thinking that we arent powerful or able to handle life.
“I could feel that by being present I actually create space” and space offers the opportunity to be all that we are.
Thank you Gabriele for highlighting that every movement matters and it is the conscious presence in the continuum that actually counts not the passing and ticking of measured time on the clock.
So true Sandra, I love your line “it is the conscious presence in the continuum that actually counts not the passing and ticking of measured time on the clock.”
Catching up is big and total illusion – there is no such thing as time does not compete with us and nor is it ahead of us.
When we move with the perception that time is linear, we reduce ourselves to a mind orientated being, disconnected from our bodies in which we rush and try to fit in mountains, striving to reach an end point to congratulate ourselves with. Yet in truth there is so much more volume that we naturally bring to every moment when we allow our spherical way of being to be moved by the quality of our Soul. As when we are present with ourselves we discover there is an abundance of space for us to magnify and move with our Soulfulness.
When I focus on what I need to do and stay on course per say, don’t get distracted or wonder off doing something else, everything easily and simply gets done. But when I check out and look at my phone or talk for no reason, then I find there are pockets in my day that I feel overwhelmed for being busy.
Thank you Gabriele for your insight too. Makes sense to move in the moment to create space “I could feel that by being present I actually create space – and space equals time”.
Which in turn feeds our nervous system and keeps us in a panic which feeds the illusion of the lack of time! I have found that until I get off that rollercoaster and start to bring some order into my life I am forever feeding my addiction to being on the back foot at the mercy of whatever ‘falls’ into my day and therefore cannot really be of service to anyone I am working with or anything I am working on.
This is a perfect blog for keeping it simple and staying present with ourselves in the day. How much time do we squander when we are not present and, if we were present would time disappear and leave us with space? An experiment in the making but one that is throwing out some very unexpected results!
Some great awarenesses in your blog, Gabriele, yes if we are not present it is a waste of time so to speak, ‘during the day and in my daily activities, every time I am not present and involved in what I am doing I am actually squandering time’.
Gabriele, you raised a great point for me to ponder on ‘when we are present we creat space’ this made me realise just how often we check out and allow time to be our master, rather than making space for ourselves.
You have reminded me I have some eye pillows tucked away in a drawer that I’m not using. I’m going to put them on my bed for use later : )
Gabriele, thanks for sharing your revelation. This is a super reminder about how not to waste our time. I tend to think certain tasks are less important than others; so will only make an effort to be present for some things. I am learning that every second is precious and staying present is key to not getting into overwhelm when I have lots to do.
So we are basically stealing our own time by not being present.
Yes, and we are constantly getting drained on top of leaving ourselves short of time by not being present.
Yes, so true, we are not only missing out on what we are missing out on but needing fuel to do so.
Gabriele you highlight a great point here that we can all be inspired by, by choosing to be present in everything we do we open ourselves to the magical feeling of space – this is a powerful way to live and supports us to not feel controlled by time.
It’s ironic that we create less space when we try to ‘save time’ or stockpile it in some way. If we accept what is and stay present we have everything we need.
Stockpiling time – where do these apparently ‘saved’ bits of time go at the end of the day, where do we bank them? It doesn’t make sense but the momentum can be very strong. And this momentum is lodged as a particular movement in our bodies.
Thank you Gabriele. You have helped me understand a recent experience I have had in making space. I have been practicing sacred movement with my partner and lately I have been feeling like there is much more time to do the movements, it’s as though the music has slowed down even though it hasn’t. I now realise that this is what it feels like to make space. Amazing.
It’s fascinating isn’t it… if not very exposing, to realise that in our bid to ‘do more’ and ‘pack more into time’, we frequently lose connection with ourselves, our movements and what we are actually ‘doing’, i.e. we lose or rather forgo, our ability to be truly present.
This is a great reminder Gabriele, that presence ‘actually create[s] space – and space equals time…’
A reminder to remain with ourselves, no matter what, and explore this deeply profound and grand truth that you are sharing here. I will be very aware of this throughout my day today, and ‘onward’, thank-you.
I had never looked at the fact that by not being present we are actually squandering time! Thank you Gabriele for your insight!
I’m so glad I stumbled across this wonderful blog. I am in a constant battle with time and now it makes sense as to why. If we are not present we are not truly participating in whatever it is we are doing, it’s like being dead while alive.
Well – and exposingly – said Leonne. If we are operating by ‘function’ only – throwing our bodies into whatever we’ve deemed needs to be done, we are not truly living.
In being consciously present with our movements and activity – simply to the best of our ability (yes, we can ‘stray’, but we can also come back… 🙂 ) – there is an enrichment in life and whatever it is that we may do.
For me, I never would have thought that many seemingly ‘mundane’ tasks in my day could actually be full of joy, and yet, by applying this (without any perfection whatsoever), this is today how it is…
I am sure I have read this blog before, but wow, I am really appreciating the depth of what you are sharing here right now. By being present, we create space, but space has always been in and around us all the time, so by being present, we connect to the space. I would definitely like to put that in practice. Thank you for the inspiration, Gabriele.
When we are connected to ourselves we are impulsed by our bodies for what is next or what is needed in any moment but when we are dis-connected then we are at the whim of what ever takes our fancy. For me, it feels like I have left the front door opened let a stranger walk in and then sit there wondering what on earth I have got up to and thinking where did that time go.
Thank you Gabriele for the simple yet profound reminder that in every moment, we can choose to live from our inner-heart with presence and as such expand our love, the light of our Soul in space, or through our lack of presence we bring to the space in which we all dwell, lovelessness, emotions and denseness from which we feel constricted, limited and not true and Divine ourselves.
“And thus, lack of time is actually my self-perpetuated illusion and imprisonment, aided and abetted by not being present.” I know and appreciate that this is true, however, I still find myself continually chasing time which is a ridiculous pursuit – similar to that of a cat chasing its tail.
So much of our day is lost when we choose to go off in our heads or on automatic pilot and not be consciously aware of what we are doing in any moment. I love how you have exposed the self-imprisonment this causes and the power we have to choose differently how we are and therefore our relationship with time and space.
I am still discovering more and more incidents every day where I can fall for the old trap and rush in order to fit more in – this morning I ran an experiment at the gym and could feel how more deeply connected I was when I did not focus on the repetitions or level of difficulty. I love it how there is always more to discover and debunk.
I too am learning more and more of how it is such an illusion to think that we are getting ‘more’ out of life, or that we are living ‘more’ when we try to fit ‘more’ into our day by doing ‘more’ things. For we are actually being less, less of ourselves, as we are living with far less presence, being driven our minds over-riding our bodies. I am realising that we live more of who we are when we live in connection to our Soul, for we live the realness of who we are in essence which has no need for any results, outcomes or achievements as we already are all that we need to be, with ourselves.
‘And thus, lack of time is actually my self-perpetuated illusion and imprisonment, aided and abetted by not being present’. Says it all really. I always ran under the belief that I did not have enough time in my day to do all I needed to get done which always felt stressful. But I am learning how time is spacious when I am fully present…. this is still a work in progress.
So often I wonder, where did that time go? Especially when I wonder where the days, weeks, months have gone. This must mean that I am not being present so much of the time. When I bring myself back and am aware of this, space opens up and my day is awesome, I get all that is necessary done and I feel full of myself (in a nice way). There is no substitute for being present in my life and caring and loving myself in each moment. Each moment of presence supports the next.
“And thus, lack of time is actually my self-perpetuated illusion and imprisonment, aided and abetted by not being present.” Well said, exposing our irresponsibility when we lament lack of time even though we have been squandering it by not being here.
Great sharing Gabriele, how we can loose time by not being present. What I have been realising the more present we are the more time expands, when we get lost in the drama and are not consciously present in every moment we loose time.
This is a wonderful revelation Gabriele and hard to grasp by the mind but is my lived experience too, that if I actually take the time to be present with myself instead of trying to rush ahead in my mind I create space and space has its own magic of timelessness.
Gorgeous Judith and worth a repeat: ‘space has its own magic of timelessness’.
Wow what a wonderful practical sharing Gabriele – “I could feel that by being present I actually create space – and space equals time, whereas I have forever tried to make more time by rushing and squeezing more and more things into my minutes, hours and days.” With your insight of being present it has become a new dimension for me – it is even more worth it to be present in every second of my life as I love it to have more space!
So true, our presence brings richness into a moment of time/space.
“I could feel that by being present I actually create space – and space equals time, ” I love this Gabriele – great to re-read your article. It feels amazing to get so many things done when I stay present in all I do. There is no rush – just a gentle flow. It feels amazing.
It is a wise lesson. By being present we make space for ourselves. I realised the days when I was not in a panic about all I had to do, were the days I had the most time and space. Letting go of that panic, which is a contraction in my body, is the key for me.
Great point Amanda, we are not used to feeling space, I know I can feel tension in my body and can let that take over if I don’t just allow and surrender to this quality.
Great observations Gabriele. We can talk about ‘making time’ to be with someone but perhaps what we really mean is we allow space in our time constrained life to truly connect to someone.
Being present is making us experience time in a very different way, as we don’t loose it. It stays in the movement that it represents, and we continue in this movement, a true flow.
Im sure many can relate to ‘loosing’ time – like me reading this blog, I zoned out half way through yet made it to the end. Autopilot is such an interesting concept as my eyes were still reading and going through the motions but my mind was not listening and else where doing it’s own thing. So what was reading?
Time and presence are very closely related, being present is making us feel the space that we actually live in.
For the most part lack of time is a self-perpetuated illusion.
I know I have put myself under the ‘pump’ with time to be in perpetual motion.
The excess motion enables me to be tired thereby justifying my lack of commitment to the quality in life.
It enables me to ignore the little details which makes living so much more grand.
It gives me the ultimate excuss to be lazy and brush things aside.
This blog was a pleasure to read.
‘I could feel that by being present I actually create space’. Such a simple yet very true reminder Gabriele, I used to think the opposite by being busy and doing things in a rush I would create more time for myself – the complications that would arise when I lived like this were not pleasant for the body in anyway.
Wow Gabriele that is such an amazing blog and to read it today was right in time as I was lamenting on not to have enough time. Therefore the following sentence is gold for me as it helped me to understand what I was doing – it stopped me rushing like a maniac: “I could feel that by being present I actually create space – and space equals time, whereas I have forever tried to make more time by rushing and squeezing more and more things into my minutes, hours and days.”
Even more profound reading this a second time and a great reminder that we create and perpetuate the notion and the belief that there isn’t enough time simply by not being fully present in each moment of time as we experience it.
Lack of presence has led to many stressful hours and days when it feels like I am constantly chasing time, falling into bed exhausted and dragging myself out of bed the next morning to repeat it all over again. Making the choice to connect to myself and be with me in whatever I am doing has led to a feeling of time expanding and so much more enjoyment in completing whatever tasks are required and massively decreased my stress levels.
For me one of the keys has been appreciating this and allowing the observation of what happens when I go back to old behaviour patterns. Refinement is constant because as you point out there is always the potential to go onto autopilot and lose presence. Thank you for celebrating the simplicity of what is presented to us in each moment that we choose to be present and actively live life.
This blog makes me ponder on how many things I do without presence. It not only wastes time but also reduces the quality I am doing things in. Typing this comment for instance is much more enjoyable when I feel my fingers delicately move instead of rushing them over the keyboard to get it done.
Ah yes, hunting for things we can’t remember putting down; that happened to me twice today with my car keys and was such a huge exception to how I normally leave that I really had to take notice and ask myself what was going on.
A brilliant sharing about what’s truly going on with time when we check out in the moment. It explains why so many of us perceive we’re so time poor when in fact we’re merely presence poor.
Love it Cathy the richness of time is always available to us if we choose to be present with it.
I love the simplicity and wisdom in this blog Gabriele as too often I can catch myself not being present and wondering how I did something. Thank you for this beautiful reminder especially this line of yours that I shall take into my day -‘lack of time is actually my self-perpetuated illusion and imprisonment, aided and abetted by not being present.’
Yes, lack of time must be a myth and most likely caused by not being present with what is there, right in front of our noses and all around us it seems.
The universe seems to know what I need to read to put me back on track! Today it is about conscious presence. “By being present I actually create space” – thank you Gabriele for bringing this to my consciousness.
This is superb Gabrielle… an area I particularly notice that time ‘slips away’ is driving in my car where I can have that check out for literally hours at a time. Its a simple calculation… if we are just existing day to day its ‘1 day’, but if we are present in every moment that is ‘86,400 seconds’. That is heaps of time!
Yes time is that commodity it seems everyone wants more of. Mostly though, when I hear the ‘need for more time’ it is often associated with rushing and not about quality.
Good point – it is about rushing snd squeezing more stuff into a certain time frame, but hardly ever about how we are in and with that time, i.e. present and attentive or checked out and numb.
The time game is interesting one to play. I noticed awhile ago that we can stratch or squeeze it. You know when sometimes you are waiting for someone or something and it seems forever before the event to happen or person to appear. Other times you are doing something being totally absorbed in activity and might not notice how day passed by.
I know people who are constantly in a rush and don’t make time even for short toilet brake constantly saying ” I wish it would be more then 24 hours in a day”.
And I know people like you,Gabriel, and other students who can fit so much in a day that other people can’t fit in a month.
The difference is obvious-conscious presence and consistency in making a choice to stay present to the body and make space.
Could you imagine what difference in human life it will bring?
Yes you can because you are living it. By sharing your experience you inspire others to try it out. Thank you, Gabriel.
I like the point you have raised Gabriele, it has also come to my attention recently how much time I waste during each day and thanks for confirming why I let so much of it be wasted.
Time lines, deadlines, all create boundaries and structure, if we see time as space we are free to engage in life without the restrictions and imposed structures. Each second presents a new opportunity, a space to engage with whatever is presented as it is… in that moment. It’s a freedom to choose in the moment!
wow, this is an amazing revelation. Time can get lost easily by not choosing to be present, I can feel it and see how this revelation can come into my life, and gives me the opportunity to feel time, and that there is a lot of it when I am present and in the moment.
Thanks Gabriele, time forms an all consuming foundation to how we think about our lives. We are either celebrating it, looking forward to it, or grieving over loss of it. Never does it appear that we just allow ourselves to ‘Be’ in it. Your realisation is something we can all make a choice to experience, an opportunity to ‘Be’ in it and hold it in absolute stillness. What a blessing to have the space to allow what ever needs to unfold and not to exhaust ourselves whilst trying to scramble to control something that just ‘is’.
Great summary of how amazing and healing it is when we stop trying “to control something that just ‘is'” and allow it to unfold in its own time – a blessing indeed.
Enjoyed the comment here – it reminds me that there is oodles of space in a single moment if I can just be present, rather than worrying about the future, or angsting about the past.
Thank you Gabriele, your realisation about time is just what I need today – to practice staying present with every activity, so that I enjoy every moment and whatever I am doing.
We definitely have it all wrong! There is no joy in rushing around frantically trying to fit as much as possible into a certain ‘time’ – it is exhausting and there is never enough time. However, with presence, not only does space allow us more time, but we feel ‘space’ or expansion in our body and every task feels joyful. Why would we choose to do things any other way?
Pondering on my relationship with time recently, I saw how much time I wasted when I am not present. In not being present, I have to double check things a dozen times, and essentially spending way to long on things that had I remained present would have taken half the time.
It is so true jacqmcfadden, we “lose” all this time by not being present with ourselves in what we do. The moment I add conscious presence to my activity, whether that is breathing, walking, speaking, etc. it creates space and whatever it is I am doing becomes very enjoyable. I need to apply this a lot more! Great blog Gabriele!
I experienced a lot that when feeling stressed I go into a rushing mode and it feels like time then goes faster than when I am present with everything I do. Being aware of what my body is doing and aligning my thoughts to that feels like time slows down. Like what Gabriele wrote: it creates space. And my body loves it too.
Awesome blog Gabriele. I love your lived wisdom shared of this beautiful way of creating space. As when we do connect to who we are within, which is in fact time-less and eternal, we are then in time with All that is needed in that moment. That as you say, being present creates space rather than worrying and stressing if there is enough time and missing out on knowing what is needed next in that moment.
Thank you Gabrielle, you said exactly what I always deeply felt. Time = is not our issue, it is being present all of the time that we have problems with.
What you share is crucial: ”I could feel that by being present I actually create space – and space equals time, whereas I have forever tried to make more time by rushing and squeezing more and more things into my minutes, hours and days.” It says it all, and it also shows us the power of being present within our body, and being aware of what we are choosing every single minute. We don’t have to be afraid of time anymore !
I agree, we can befriend time and make it work for us as long as we stay present with what we are doing and present in the body that is doing it all.
That is a revelation Gabriele. To squander time by not being present and to appreciate each moment and time becomes something lovely that does not just slip away. Awesome.
This is just amazing. I can more often than not relate to missed areas in my day when I am not sure what I’ve been doing, trying to remember if I did little tasks or not, holding something in my hand and not being present – these are all little games we play in order to delay not being present, and something i am catching out more and more as I choose to be more in my whole body than just in my head.
Very wise Gabriele what you wrote about time is awesome: “I could feel that by being present I actually create space – and space equals time” I will make my own experience with it now!
Wow Gabriele, this is exactly what I needed to hear today and bring into my life as it is not a lack of time that is missing in my life it is my lack of presence. Thank you for this beautiful reminder.
Gabriele, thank you I really relate to what you’ve said here. I too have experienced the feeling that minutes have been swallowed up in an instant yet, on the other hand, have been surprised at the amount of space there has been to do all I’ve needed to and more. How often do we try to ‘beat time’ by rushing ahead of ourselves? When the key, as you say, is in actual fact the converse, presence, being with ourselves and appreciating every moment.
I agree Barbara. trying to create time by pushing and rushing doesn’t do anything but exhaust us but to be present and connected to self in ‘Time’ does create space. Adding Appreciation into the mix everything takes on an amazing quality. Thanks Gabriele for sharing your revelation.
Great recipe for a more spaciously lived life – I can still at times get caught up in thinking that the faster I work, the more time I will have at the end, but this fallacy reveals its true colours very quickly when I have to retrace my steps, undo something or start back at the beginning because I went in without being present.
Thank you Nicole, this is a great example and a wonderful way of being with children, to give them our full attention when we are with them and not be somewhere else in our heads, already preoccupied with what is next. And kids do pick it up, they know when we are only there physically and not in our full presence.
Thank you Gabriele, something here to ponder on, space = time.
What a great tool to solve the not having enough time issue, Gabriele! Thanks for this reminder.
Is this blog saying that the space was always there, it was just that we didn’t take the time to connect to it?
I’ve found myself running in this paradigm of not having enough time. When the quality of my day becomes first, generally speaking my day runs very smoothy and the factor of time isn’t a issue but a practical marker to be respected and utilised.
Yes, it feels like the time or space is always there, we just tend to negate it when we act as though it didn’t exist and then of course, we complain about its absence and think that we can make up for it by rushing and squeezing things in. And that is a recipe for disaster and a lot of nervous tension and anxiousness.
Indeed a game play I have tried too many time and has equally failure too many times as well.
On a very practical level, I have found that being present in what I do creates more time because I am not having to go back over what I have been doing or looking where I have unconsciously left things or jumping from one thing to the next without completing what I am doing. There is no tension or rush. Being with me definitely does create space and more time.
Great point – when we are present with ourselves and what we are doing it doesn’t need redoing, undoing or correcting which must be some of the biggest frustrations and time wasters in existence.
The first thing I discovered being present was just how much 99.99999 percent of the time I am so not present, but worrying, being anxious about the future, critical of past actions, and just random daydreams.. So that’s a monumental first step in awareness. But once presence is connected to and recognised, then it becomes a great journey to unfold the depths of awareness we can connect with.
Perfect for me to read this today Gabriele…..and a lovely reminder how to create space and more time! Awesome.
There is deep truth and wisdom in your words Gabriele… I especially connected to where you said “I could feel that by being present I actually create space – and space equals time”. I well know the squandering of time and have also fallen for the illusion of trying to make more time by rushing to squeeze more into it and thereby building unnecessary tension in my body. As I have experimented with this I have indeed found the truth in that creating space through conscious presence is exactly what creates more time… And, I complete what needs doing without the tension in the body.
This concept of ‘squeezing more into it’ is so common in my day. It does not make any sense… a second is a second… but it does reveal the pressure and tension I pile onto the time I have. All it does is to reduce the space around me when I am doing things which makes me less efficient, and more worried… about time!
Gabriele this issue of ‘time’ and being not being present to create a lack of time is very apt – and timely (!) reading. I have reflected on the very same issue when I experience any slight autopilot-ness and thus feel the (urgent) call for more attention to detail, being there as I do anything, put anything on or down. It’s dangerous too because when you cannot remember the missing time, it can open up a gap towards a judging or blaming of another for our ‘mis-attention’. Your words: “And thus, lack of time is actually my self-perpetuated illusion and imprisonment, aided and abetted by not being present” – make so much sense.
Once a week I drive for an hour to the Gold Coast and back home. Recently when I chose to stick with the speed limit, and stay present, in spite of leaving later than usual, it took less time and the traffic did not slow in the usual places. I was amazed, and thank you Gabriele, your blog encourages me to live with time as my friend, not something I am running out of.
Yes I find driving provides a great reflection on how present I am, just how often I check out/go onto autopilot and how smoothly a journey progresses when I am truly present.
Going into automatic pilot and losing presence, even for split seconds, is fairly normal for me. It is a bit like time disappears and the calculating machinery inside myself takes place (e.g. driving a car). Yet, the truth is that when I add presence to action it feels totally different in my body.
This is a great lesson to share – we have no excuse if our relationship with the amount of time we feel we have, is dependant on how present we are within it.
hahaha that’s funny, I love the way you described it as the time that you placed the eye pillows on you, must have existed but where did it go? I also experience that and it’s great you have brought focus to it by writing this blog.
Such great awareness Gabriele, thank you. I love feeling the impact of not being present, that way I can choose to come back to what I’m actually doing. It’s the not feeling when I’ve lost my concentration to anything and everything else except what I’m doing that is tricky. That is where I squander time and cause myself delays by not working with all of me and making mistakes which causes more delays.
Yes, it does waste time when we are not focused on what we are doing and don’t bring both the body and the mind to every task.
Thankyou for sharing such insight Gabrielle , all our needs are presented every moment of a day it is for us to be present and be aware of what is offered.
A great reminder to “be present in everything we do”. This definitely helped me to stop feeling “chased” by time.
A race we can never win; it’s been put to the test for ‘a long time’ now, and it just doesn’t work, no matter how fast we run.
Your blog Gabrielle has certainly provided a lot of us to reflect on how we use time, I know for me the idea of being more present with myself is something I am really enjoying – I look forward to playing around with time and more space that I can create from being more present.
Gabrielle, I just love how you observe the small details of every day life and expand them to a philosophical insight. Beautiful.
Wow, so simple. How many moments do we ‘do things’ and not recall ourselves even doing them? It’s like the times that we misplace something or lose an object or wonder if we’ve locked the door on our walk away from the car … a space is presented to say, well where was I in that moment? and another space is presented to come back to presence and be present for the next moment (not ahead) but the one we are already now in.
Thank you Gabriele for sharing this absolute truth “that by being present I actually create space – and space equals time,” When I do not think of all the things I have to do and just focus on the task at hand and when it is completed, the next task is there for me and I am often surprised how much is done. I have practiced this one with ironing – previously one of my least favourite tasks. If I keep looking at the crumpled pile waiting to be ironed it takes forever and is exhausting but when I just iron one garment at a time feeling the pleasure it will be for me or another to wear it, I enjoy the ironing, am not tired, there is ample time and space and I am ready for the next task.
Gabriele, that was a little mind blower of a blog. I felt every truth in it. Thanks -you have just busted my illusion too.
This is such a great blog – highlighting the squandering of time by using the ‘not being present’ card.
This blog and the comments are a great support for me as I am developing my relationship with time and how it all comes down to being present in each and every moment.
So true – most of my life I thought that when I do things faster I get more done during the day. What an illusion ! The only result that I got from this was exhaustion, unhappiness and being mainly in my head – I couldn’t feel my body at all. Now I know it is so important to be in my rhythm and to have a relationship with space, as you describe in your beautiful blog. Thanks Gabriele for sharing.
I also find that I make heaps of mistakes when I am rushing and not present with me, and then it takes a lot of time to go back and fix them all up. Rushing effectively shrinks the available space, the time I have to do something.
A profound and timely blog. As meg says this is one of the mysteries of the universe revealed – how our very presence and attention to the task at hand indeed creates spaciousness, like time is moving and bending with our rhythm and movement. It is part of us and not something that runs along beside, ahead or behind us. Amazing.
Stunning revelation Gabriele. It’s absolutely true. I remember one day I got so much done, and when I looked at the clock it was only 3.00 pm. I marvelled at how this could have been. It seemed almost impossible as not for one moment was I rushing or thinking about time or thinking of the next thing I wanted to do. It was a truly amazing day. And as you say, it was just a matter of being totally present that somehow ‘stretched’ time and space. Thanks for the reminder, I am going to commit to being more present and observe how that changes my relationship with time. How wonderful!
Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! 🙂
Since last reading your blog Gabriele, I have been focussing on staying present with what I am doing. As a result of this, I find my life is more flowing and I am more efficient with how I do my daily tasks, and I have even started clearing my back log of things that needed doing. I have found being present brings a sense of more freedom and more space.
What a great observation and worthwhile experiment. I have just noticed that it is quite possible to even feel a little lost when this space opens up all of a sudden. It makes me conclude that there can also be a level of comfort in being rushed and habitually forfeitting presence, poise and grace.
I have re-read this blog Gabriele and the power of the truth in your words is again very much related to.
I have found that when I get into a rush and I am not really focusing on the job in hand but concentrating on the next thing, and the next after that, I actually seem to have less time than when I am fully present in each task. As you say, I actually lose time in the thinking of the next thing and rob myself of the experience of the job in hand. Awesome to keep coming back to this and enjoying being with each task fully.
Hi Gabriele, yes, how easily time slips by when we waste it thinking.
Gabrielle, this blog is so timely (haha). Being fully present is absolutely key as it so does provide space, and then time just seems to expand almost. Reading your blog this morning really inspired me to just stay with each thing as I did it, and I could feel the spaciousness – it was beautiful. And what you say about lack of time being a self-perpetuated illusion is so true, and we can choose to keep buying into the lie or not – what a beautiful insight and gift. Thank you.
“And thus, lack of time is actually my self-perpetuated illusion and imprisonment, aided and abetted by not being present.” I love this blog Gabriele. Thankyou so much for sharing your amazing discovery. There is so much more time when I choose to accomplish things with presence, including the “gaps” in between the doing of thing, ie being with myself and my body, in every moment.
I am constantly reminded how time is relative, 100% completely relative to how I live, present or not as you so beautifully describe Gabe “And thus, lack of time is actually my self-perpetuated illusion and imprisonment, aided and abetted by not being present.” I am always amazed at how much time expands – literally there feels like there is more time, when I spend time being present in preparing for the day, it’s so easy to get caught up with what is next instead of focussing on the quality of your presence in each moment, creating a catch 22 instead of the flow and expanse that is totally possible. It’s a great thing to make a focus! Presence.
Being present does indeed create space which then equals time; I have also found that things just flow when I am fully present with myself, no matter what my mind is trying to tell me.
I love what you have shared here Gabriele.
Most of my life I have been playing catch up, and bemoaning the fact that there is never enough hours in a day, for me, to get everything done that I would like to do. In future when I feel time has eluded(!) me I will remember your blog, especially these few lines… And thus, lack of time is actually my self-perpetuated illusion and imprisonment, aided and abetted by not being present.
I can so related to what you share here Elizabeth for it was only this week that I said to a friend wish we had another 8 hours in each day!
What a timely blog 🙂 Thank you Gabriele
Gabriele, I feel like you might be casually revealing one of the greatest mysteries of the universe!! It’s true if you are present there is so much time, and when you feel like life is timeless – wow – it is beautiful.
I’m feeling that too!
I love it. Thank you Gabriele, it looks like there may be a connection between time and space that we have all been missing. Someone should write a book about it!
This is such a simple and very powerful revelation. Thank you Gabriele.
I have come back to read this amazing blog, one I saved after the first time I read it, and even before I read it, I sighed and released what felt like a holding in my body. This is something that has been constantly evident in my life, and is so called for evolving from — I get so caught up in time, stressing, rushing and running on nervous energy and therefore creating less time and more angst, which I then carry and hold in my body all day long, and so the cycle continues. There is such truth in these words and lived experience that has been shared here. I for one know when I am consciously present, as in simply with myself in what I am doing at any given moment, not racing ahead in my thoughts, going “I’ve got to do this, today, tomorrow, 6 months, a year down the line, etc” there is SO much more space and time, both around me and within me, and a sense of absolute ease and joy. And yes I am much more present with myself, but what has changed is my awareness that I am equally so with all those around me, do they not deserve to be met and held in absolute presence too.
Yes you all absolutely do.
Hi Gabriele, I couldn’t agree more. I had such an amazing day / revelation last week, when I chose to say no to my thoughts, worrying about time and the things that needed to be done that day. I chose to see what would happen if I listened to my body and what it felt to do in each moment, to stay with that and myself… needless to say it was simple, amazing and profound — an absolute, felt and lived from my body. Time opened up, it was as if there was no time, there was so much more space and joy, everything was completed in its own rhythm, with no stress, angst, effort or raciness and on the occasions where I did let a time thought slip in and check the clock I was absolutely amazed that it was so much earlier than I thought it to be, and already I had done so much – the whole day and my way of being was simply endless and full of joy.
I know what you mean, Gyl – on a couple of occasions I found myself in my car ready to go and then realising that I got the time wrong and that it was an hour earlier than I thought! It’s amazing what happens when we are present.
A beautiful blog, Gabriele – it feels like a great blessing, as are all the comments. Life is so abundant when we allow time to be on our side.
Racing against time certainly doesn’t work and never will – I have tried but it is definitely not possible to overtake time!
I have had a similar experience: when I think ahead it feels like I am throwing a noose around a point in the future and pulling it towards me by virtue of the fact that I am thinking about it. I thus make the space available to me smaller, it makes me feel rushed and that I do not have enough time.
Loved your post Gabriele. The concept of time has always fascinated me. I have noticed myself that I have squandered time, many times, and other times it is like time has stopped still and and so much has been covered in such a short amount of time. This is usually when I have been very present with someone or a situation.
I have noticed that if I procrastinate, avoid and delay it makes time shrink and I feel like I’ve cheated myself of time, which seems like a crazy thing to do. And how time goes much faster for older people than children, I hear adults complain all the time about how fast time goes now they are older, yet to a child time is eternal. Could it be that as we age we just drop being present because we don’t what to feel what is present with us? A great article, thank you. Ariana UK.
Hi Ariana, when you said about how time goes much faster for adults than children it reminded me of the saying, that “life is like a toilet roll… the closer you get to the end, the faster it goes”, but if you are present and living life in the livingness/fullness, then really life and time never really ends. 🙂
Procrastinating is bad news, it pushes something that has a certain time and space allotted to it into the future when the whole space will have to be recreated to get the job done, whatever it is. And not only that, I have also noticed how the task then becomes bigger and bigger in my mind, a molehill turns into Mt Everest with all the unnecessary baggage I have loaded it up with.
Great point, “as we age we just drop being present because we don’t want to feel what is present with us”. And because we might not want to feel how it really is, we choose instead to check out and distract or numb ourselves and being racy is just another one of those methods.
Aha! There is no excuse for worrying about time at all. This takes time AWAY because we are escaping from life. Such a gem of a gift you have given us all Gabriele and what an important realisation it is. As I am always learning, the true quality of life never comes from what we can get done or from what we have and can achieve, but rather from us enjoying each and every moment time gives us to be with us in whatever we do. For it is never ahead of us if we are in the moment.
Josh how true you are, I love this “for it is never ahead of us if we are in the moment” oh so very true. I am always amazed and in joyful wonder at the feeling of space and time created within and around us when we are present with ourselves and in the moment, it feels so amazing and natural rather than the feeling of stress, anxiousness or racing around, which only magnifies through our bodies into tension, angst and deep unease.
Not being ahead of ourselves as driven and dictated by the mind is a great feeling indeed, offering spaciousness and timelessness. It is then not ever a question of more or better time management but a question of how to stay present and make use of what is all around and already available.
Exactly Josh, thank you for this reminder, and Gabriele for your insight with time.
Good point – time is never ahead of us when we are in the moment and present with what the body is doing.
I agree, worry and anxiety steal time and fill our space with raciness and heavy discomfort. A no brainer really but it takes commitment and true intelligence to apply in daily life what we have understood to be of truth and value.
Agreed – when time is ahead of me it means that I am ahead of myself and not consciously present in the moment.
Yes, when we are connected nothing we do can be ahead of us and thus we don’t need to chase after it and squeeze time and ourselves into a tight ball. It actually feels that everything that is needed is all around and supporting us.
Time is with us when we are with ourselves, beautiful Gabriele
Awesome Gabriele, I too have felt time open up for me through being present and working at a pace that supports this quality, and what amazes me is that even though I have strongly felt this and connected to this, I can still choose to rush and let my mind be ten steps ahead of myself.
Why would I avoid choosing the silky fluid feeling of being present and replace this with a nervous jittery feeling in my body???
I am obviously not wanting to feel something, so I choose a way of being that numbs my ability to feel…
Yes, I get what you mean – such clear revelations and yet, so often a choice to sidestep them and check out!
Awesome Gabriele. This is an amazing revelation. The clarity of your expression is inspirational and your blog presents a great way of being to put into practice.
Thank you for writing about this as it is also my experience. When I am being present with what I do I have time, but as soon as I check out (start to think about other things than what I am doing, mostly not a conscious choice) time seems to disappear in ‘no time’.
It actually makes sense because when we are present we are aware of the time going by, but when we are not with ourselves and what we are doing we do not notice the time goes by… and as soon as we check back in we assume we are still at the same time that we ‘left’ ourselves, but we are not…
Well said Lieke, and thank you Gabriele for bringing this to our attention as it is so true! I had never quite considered how, if we are checking out and in again (losing presence), and expecting time to have stood still in the meantime, we will of course feel bereft – that we have lost time. This really is something to keep exploring.
Absolutely Janet, definitely something to keep exploring.
Feeling bereft bout the ‘loss of time’ – that is a great way of putting it. Not that we really lose time as such,but we certainly lose ourselves by not being present.
So true Lieke.
You make it clear that we are skipping from one moment of presence to another moment of presence and totally disregarding the moments in between that are vacuous because of our lack of presence. And then we run around and complain about not having enough time! What a joke really.
When we have checked out, “time seems to disappear in ‘no time'” – I love that image and the way you describe it; very witty and so apt.
I get what you mean – when we check out we skip from one instant to another one further down the track, a bit like counting each 5th bead on a necklace for example, skipping over the four in-between. And when we do that we miss the moment by moment roll-out of our day and the fullness and spaciousness that living like that brings.
Thank you Gabriele for this inspiring blog.
Thank you for your extraordinary revelation Gabriele… it is a gift.
I loved the lines “every time I am not present and involved in what I am doing I am actually squandering time”… and… “by being present I actually create space”.
Thank you Gabriele!
Thank you Gabriele for this simple observation, as it is a great revelation. I loved how you wrote “lack of time is actually my self-perpetuated illusion and imprisonment, aided and abetted by not being present”. This is so true! A ‘timely’ post that I can so relate to.
A pearl of a blog Gabriele. Thank you.
A great description Sally, indeed a pearl! Reading your words Gabriele felt like you were talking for me! I know what you have described too well and am currently really seeing for myself the value of conscious presence in my life to expand time to allow me to fulfill my commitments in a non rushed manner.
When we remain steady and are very still we are learning that rushing and raciness leave us stuck in time whereas stillness confirms us in space.
Thanks for sharing your INSIGHT (interestingly happening with EYE pillows haha). The way I made the connection for myself was when someone said to me “the slower I go, the more time there is”. I tried this out in a swimming pool – swimming from one end to the other quickly and then back again slowly. And yes, it did seem that the slower I went, the more time there was. But what I eventually realised while playing around with this concept was that as I moved in slow motion, I became more present. And eventually, I realised that it was my presence that expanded time.
What a brilliant time bending experiment – and so against what we think it should be like when we speed up and try to squeeze it all into the same tight boxy space – whereas you have actually proven that being present expands time.
As with with the blog, a fabulous insight. Thank you both.
What a fun experiment and great revelation.
That is an amazing confirmation of the fact that being present with what we are doing creates spaciousness.
That is a great inspiration, I will experiment with that as I still tend to rush and drive too fast when I go somewhere by car, even if I have plenty of time. What you describe makes sense but I can feel there are a few ingrained behaviours in the way and a very stubborn belief system about rushing and squeezing in as much as possible.
That is a concept I have played with also, when we are present there is a flow which creates spaciousness and thus allows more time. But I don’t feel I fully appreciated the huge impact a life lived with a choice to be present firstly, allows the flow to occur and the magic of God to be present (like the lights green all the way),which in turn creates a spaciousness and a life that can unfold before us, as we are not putting constraints in place around time and because we are present we see and feel the choices. That’s cool!
Hi Gabriele, I love this insight. I have always been suspicious of many people’s claims over the years of always ‘being so busy’ – the expression never felt right. This explains it.
Hi Debra… Are they ‘busy’ or just ‘filling’ their time? I find that it is easy to fill whatever time there is, but when present, it seems that so much more can be achieved if needed. I agree, the expression doesn’t feel right.
I find that I can get very identified with ‘being busy’, because it shows the world how important I am and what kind of ‘useful’ life I am leading! Quite ridiculous really. And at the expense of the quality of how I am living on a daily basis.