“Measure time, if you must, in lessons learned, not in minutes or hours or years. You can cure yourself in five minutes if you come to the proper understanding. Or in 50 years. It is all the same thing.”
-Brian Weiss, MD, in Only Love is Real
I absolutely love this quote that I came across in Only Love is Real. In this captivating book based on real life, Dr Weiss delves into the story of two of his patients and how, through past life regression, they came to learn that they had shared many lives together. He shares the story of how they met and fell in love again in this current life.
Needless to say, the book is super interesting! However the quote above really stood out to me and is even more interesting. Have you ever noticed how time can seem to fly by so fast, or move so slowly? I have noticed in my own life that when I am doing the same thing all the time (and maybe am not so excited or inspired), time goes by at a certain rate which feels a little quick to me. Before I know it, the week is up. And I ask myself, what have I really accomplished? However when I am working through and resolving an issue (or issues) in my life and uncovering new layers of myself- which takes hard work and energy- I find that time runs more slowly. I feel like I am getting so much done yet it’s only mid-week! I feel like each day I live has more value and purpose.
Our perception of time is dependent upon what we do with our time. When we are busy learning and growing on a soul-level, time slows down and we may feel like we have lived a hundred years in the span of a day- because from the soul’s perspective, we learned lessons that could have taken us a hundred years! When we are somewhat stagnant- either unchallenged or just acting robotically as many of us most of the time- time goes by fast and our soul learns no new lessons. Before we know it, we are a year older yet things around us and in our life haven’t really changed.
The biggest take-home message about this, in my opinion, is that if we want to stay young and feel youthful, we should busy ourselves with the ultra important soul-level work, in addition to living the routine part of our physical lives. It will enrich our days. It will give us the feeling that we are using our time well- and truly living.