Life Zoomed Out
Have you ever listened to and watched media that all seemed to relate to the same idea at the same time? As if the proverbial “they” were reading your mind. Suddenly ideas start swelling in your mind and you can’t quite articulate it because it’s forming too slow, or maybe too fast, you can’t quite tell.
Well, lately, I watched a movie (2 actually), and listened to a podcast that got me pondering and wondering about how I spend my time on earth. I have 4,000 (give or take a few) weeks on this earth. I’m nearly 50 so I probably have half of that left. That’s a soul stirrer. That makes me wonder if my work (my day job), is really how I want to spend those precious weeks I have left.
Time
Time is abstract, we do not own it, we cannot control it, we cannot plan too far ahead for how we will spend it. All we have, all we are assured, is now. How am I spending my time right now? Is how I’m spending it now going to help me be what I want to become and how I want my life to be at the end of those 2,000 weeks?
Zoom Out
I then pondered the idea of life zoomed out. Push that minus button at the lower right of your screen, again, and again, and again, as the view of your life widens from the time before you were born to the time after you leave this earth. When you look at the sum of that time - what is the product of all that? What have I become? Is what I am doing now leading me to that vision I have that I want my life to be at the end of it?
Zoom Out More
As I zoom out, flying higher and higher for a different perspective, I realize how temporary everything is. As you look through the historical pages of my life, I realize all those times I thought things would never end, actually ended. This too shall pass.
The Winding Path
I thought my life was a path that I forged straight ahead. Zooming out I can see that my life has meandered through the woods, through the desert, through the waters, through the dark, through the light, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, and every detour, every bend has shaped who I am. I would not trade any part of my journey.
Live With Curiosity and Courage
And as I look back, it’s not jobs I’m remembering, it’s not events per se, it’s the people, it’s the relationships, it’s the memories with friends and family. And I’m just one small speck in this vast universe of time and space and people. But that’s encouraging; it reminds me to live with curiosity and courage instead of fear of getting it wrong. We don’t need to be perfect, we just need to be present. Live life more intentionally!
Oddly enough, the more you zoom out, the more you realize how precious each moment is. Time is limited. So it’s worth being awake to it — to the wind, the laughter, the hard conversations, the good books.
Check out my class schedule if you are interested in more than just pondering these ideas. If you are ready to take action, you can find a topic of interest to get you started.
