Not Enough Time?

A paradigm is what you believe to be true about the world, how it works, and your role in it. One of the most self-perpetuating elements of the Conventional Paradigm is a sense of scarcity of time. We feel we never have enough of it. The sense of lack of time both triggers and is reinforced by the other elements of this paradigm.

The sense of Individuality — that ultimately everything rests on you, you have to do everything, follow-up on everything, fix everything. The sense of Competition — that you have to keep up with, or beat, everyone else, all the time. The sense of Greed — that you’ve got to relentlessly drive to be more, have more, and do more than is needed, than is enough. The sense of Resistance — that things are changing too fast, that you have to constantly be on the lookout and on the defense. And a sense of Fear — that you’re going to fail, going to lose, going to miss out, going to fall behind, going to run out of time. 

To succeed in the “real world” we’re supposed to be fast-paced, driven, tough, relentless, winning, climbing. But of course we end up stressed and paranoid, self-absorbed and self-important, more distracted and less reflective, regardless of our externally measured level of success. And regardless of the fact that (for practical purposes) the Earth always rotates and spins at the same rates, all the time. 

In Nature, time just is. Organisms and ecosystems have evolved, together, so that things happen when and at the speed that makes sense, in response to appropriate needs and triggers, in cascades, in concert. In Nature, there’s just enough time, all the time. 

Your nerve impulses reach speeds over 100 meters per second. Hair grows at a rate of about six inches per year. Kept dry, your hair can last indefinitely. Blood can travel through your whole body in one minute. Your blood plasma is replaced every couple of days, while your red blood cells are replaced every month or two. Your skin renews itself in about 4 weeks. Your heartbeat and breathing speed up when needed and slow to a resting pace whenever possible.  

All this is happening in your body at the same time, at the right time, over time, and at the right speed. That idea of “never enough time” doesn’t even make sense. That is how your body — and the rest of Nature — is designed. Nature is designed to do what it needs to do in the time available. This can happen because Nature relies on and values abundance (rather than scarcity) as well as systems, synergies, trust, curiosity, and resilience.  

If you’ve always felt that you’ve never had enough time, pause and reflect if that even makes sense. Have you never completed anything? Have you never made it where you needed to go? How are you even here, now?

A paradigm is what you believe to be true about the world, how it works, and your role in it. Your paradigm, and the current dominant cultural paradigm, are constructs, perceptions — they are made up.  You can live believing that you never have enough time or that you always have just enough time. It’s up to you. 


If you’re curious how you might shift your paradigm, I invite you to request the [free] Tiny Transformation Workbook and explore the other free resources offered through Wild Hazel.