Lately I have been awed by the magical quality of time.  It can both go so quickly and so slowly, simultaneously.  We’ve been planning for my daughter to attend college ever since she was born.  So why did it feel like her leaving came on so suddenly?  And my mother was diagnosed with a neurological disease over seven years ago.  Her decline has painfully progressed over those long years, and yet it frequently sems to take us by surprise to realize a strategy we’ve developed to accommodate her needs has suddenly stopped working.  

No matter what is happening in your life, you can count on time.  Whether you are busy or bored, feel happy or sad, things are going well or your life is challenging, time passes.  And with it, time carries both the power to heal and the power to scare us as we count down our passing days.  Time is one of the existential absolutes that we cannot control, yet with awareness we certainly can choose how we use our time and whether the changes that come will bring contentment or despair. We alone have the power to be more present in our lives and more mindful of the decsions we make that accumulate minute by minute, day by day, week by week, year by year,  making up our lifetime.

A man I worked with put it all in perspective for me in a way I found incredibly motivating.  He said, no matter if I drink or not, time is going to move forward.  So when he feels like having a cocktail, he imagines himself six months from now.  Will he be happy he had the drink or unhappy?  Will he have six months of continued abstinence or will he still be an alcoholic?

Think of yourself six months from now.  Time will certainly have ticked on by.  If you stick to your dietary plan, or your abstinence from alcohol or drugs, or your anger or stress management techniques, where will you be compared to if you do not?  The choice is yours.  The time is guaranteed to pass, so why not use it toward achieving your goal?  Either way you will suddenly find yourself six months older.  Might as well take advantage of the magical powers of time. Time plus effort will equal success.