Are you someone 'out of time' or 'with time'?

because your relationship with time shapes so much of your reality

Ruby and Red Hot start to notice how the energy of “out of time” is responsible for funny absurdities: like the man who loses his hot dog into his lap because someone isn’t selling fast enough. And the jaywalker who ends up doing a strange little dance move in the road when he sees a cyclist coming at him. Unintended funny stuff. So human.

Then there are humans who have a very different energy about them…

The people “with time” may be moving as slowly as the man feeding the pigeons or as fast as the speeding bike messengers but — regardless of speed — they’re both fully (or at least very) present and more relaxed than not. That synchronizes them with their surroundings. Which makes what they’re doing go better.

It’s almost as though they are playing with time… like it’s a maliable substance they can play with… make it work for them rather than against them. All by knowing how to enter the present moment.

Awww, Ruby has a crush on the super-stylin’-smooth-glidin’ bike gods! It’s fun to have a crush… and it’s a drag when it gets in the way of being able to be yourself with somebody. But that’s a topic for another installment.

We’re talking about a relationship with time today…..

Going from ‘Out of it’ to ‘With it’

We’ve all had the experience of moving WITH TIME and how it makes us feel like we have if not plenty of it, at least enough of it.

And we’ve also all had the experience of how, when we’re not moving WITH TIME, it seems like we have less of it than we need. Like we are literally OUT OF TIME. Like it’s gone.

But it’s not “gone”. Of course it’s still there, it’s just how we feel about it that’s different.

Just because the world is rushed doesn’t mean we have to be

But we catch it from the world like a bad habit.

I’ll be standing on the curb waiting to cross. And I feel tortured. Or at least annoyed enough to decide to make a run for it before the oncoming traffic reaches me.

I’ll do it when I’m not even late getting to where I’m going. Because I live in a rushed world and it makes me that way too. Except it doesn’t matter that our fast-paced world is to blame. Once it’s MY bad habit, it’s on me to figure out how to release it.

Time is neutral.
How we relate to it is the real issue.

Some Ideas on How to Break the Rushing Habit

First, NOTICE when you’re doing it

because we can’t do anything about what we’re unconscious of

Then, ACKNOWLEDGE it

because if we don’t own it, it’s not ours to change

Finally, Redirect it with a REFRAME

because thinking about it differently can set something else in motion

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Once you’ve Noticed it (not that hard to do because it’s got an agitating feeling that goes along with it), you’re more than halfway there. Take a moment to respectfully Acknowledge its existence by saying something like…

“Oh yeah, will you look at that? I’m rushing. Seems as though I think “moving faster” is better… more productive, perhaps?

Having acknowledged it, you can Redirect it with a Reframe by saying something like…

BUT really? Rushing just makes me less present to what I’m doing….. less able to enjoy what I’m doing. If I could tell myself a different story about the time I have available to me — like how time is a very crazy facet of life worthy of experimenting with, or how life is actually the gift OF time — maybe thinking that way could get me excited about dropping the rushing habit.

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How about YOU?

How often do you catch yourself rushing… even when there’s no deadline you’re working against?

Does rushing feel like the better way to do things?

Frazzled you or graceful you: which one do you enjoy being more?

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Let’s tap

This is a short and snappy one because sometimes that’s all you need ‘in the moment’… which is the best time to tap. Right in the moment whatever is up for you is up for you.

Tapping Script: To Reset the Rushing Habit

After you’ve Noticed and Acknowledged that OUT OF TIME energy is going on, do a little measurement:

“0-10, how unpleasant is this rushing feeling?”

Once you’ve got that, tune into how you know it’s that number, and then tap through the points as you say….

I’m noticing this rushing energy.
My body feels tight.
My mind feels pushy.
My body feel ____ (whatever the sensation is for you)
But rushing doesn’t really save time.
It just makes me tense and distracted.
Less present.
What if I didn’t have to push so hard?
What if I could take one slow breath right now?
What if I could let my body soften,
even just a little?

You could end it there OR do another round where you try this way of talking to yourself that tricks your unconscious mind into believing you already ARE that which you’d rather be….

Why am I so good at letting time be on my side?
Why am I so good at moving as though I have plenty of time?
Why am I so good at choosing presence… ease… grace?
I love being so good at moving through my day
WITH TIME, IN TIME and ON TIME.

Stop tapping, hold the wrist, squeeze it on the inhale, exhale, and still holding onto the wrist call to mind a time you were uber-relaxed. Maybe in nature somewhere. See it, feel it, hear it. Notice how good it feels. Notice where in the body the good feeling is most noticeable. Inhale and squeeze the wrist to anchor in THAT feeling, exhale, and let go of the wrist.

Notice what’s there for you NOW. And measure again:
“0-10, how unpleasant is this rushing feeling NOW?”

Great job, and thanks for tapping along!

Join us next time when Ruby gets serious about creating her next Great New Game: the “Job Hunting” game!