The Misuse of Time

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posted by Deepak Chopra Jan 19, 2011 5:01 amfiled under: Deepak Chopra's Tips, Spirituality, busy, planning, timeAdd to FavoritesTell a FriendSharePrintDiggRedditCare2StumbleUponmore57 commentsAs one spiritual teacher said, “The wholeness of creation is needed to bring about the present moment.â€If you take this to heart, your attention will shift. Right now every situation you are in is a mixture of past, present, and future. But the now can’t be a mixture of old and new. It must be clear and open; otherwise, there is no unfolding of yourself, which is the reason time exists.Here are eight common ways to misuse time:1. Being anxious about the future.2. Reliving the past.3. Regretting old mistakes.4. Reliving yesterday.5. Anticipating tomorrow.6. Racing against the clock.7. Brooding over impermanence.8. Resisting change.When you misuse the time, the problem isn’t at the level of time itself. Nothing has gone wrong with the clocks in the house of someone who loses five hours’ sleep worrying about the possibility of dying from cancer. The misuse of time is only a symptom for misplaced attention. You can’t have a

relationship with someone you don’t pay attention to, and in your relationship to the universe, attention is paid here and now, or not at all. In fact, there is no universe except the one you perceive right now. So to relate to the universe, you must focus on what lies in front of you. As one spiritual teacher said, “The wholeness of creation is needed to bring about the present moment.â€If you take this to heart, your attention will shift. Right now every situation you are in is a mixture of past, present, and future. But the now can’t be a mixture of old and new. It must be clear and open; otherwise, there is no unfolding of yourself, which is the reason time exists.Adapted from The Book of Secrets, by Deepak Chopra (Three Rivers Press, 2004).http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-misuse-of-time.html