I’ll just kill some time before we go out tonight.

I’ve got to find a good way to kill some time.

Nothing much, just killing time this weekend.

People tend to be interested in “getting through” extended periods of time in order to get to other, future periods of time. 

They might “get through” work so that they can come home. Or they might “kill time” watching TV until they head off to work. Some do both (oh, the horror!).

People “kill time” when they are stuck in a traffic jam, or in line at a bank. Some do so with friends, or while they are getting paid to be productive at work.

What this boils down to is disengaging yourself from your life. It involves holding so little value for the present moment that one wishes for time to be “fast forwarded.” 

This shocks me. WAIT a second… is this moment of your life not worth something? Would you really rather just get to the future? How short would your life be if you actually COULD fast forward it?

The fact of the matter is, we have to live our lives, there is no fast forward option. We must live every second of it some how or another, or we must perish. But:

Can it not be said that we can enjoy, learn from, gain from, and somehow find the richness in every millisecond of our lives?

This is the question I pose, this is the call I make to engaging fully in our lives.

So you’re stuck in a traffic jam…

•     Do you have some audio programs of great music with you?
•     Do you have some business calls to make?
•     Could you shoot out a group text to meet with your friends this week?
•     Could you look program your GPS to identify certain places as “Favorites?”
•     Can you at least roll down the window, breathe in, and appreciate this very second of your life?

You could make up your own list for nearly any situation you will ever face in your life.

Even in the face of emotional pain, living in this second could be seen to be part of the richness of life – something to learn from and experience to develop a stronger resolve, to instill a deeper desire to make the most of our own lives.

The “worthwhile-ness” is in the experience of the beholder. It is the meaning we find in this very moment that determines its value to us.

At any given moment you can find meaning, joy, growth, and/or benefit from a situation. When you find yourself eager to “fast forward,” or yearning to “get through” or “kill time,” ask yourself:

• What can I appreciate and enjoy in this situation? It could be a wonderful visual scene, a fun experience with others, an opportunity for problem solving, etc…
• What can I learn from this situation? It could be something new about someone you know, it could be how to deal with stressors and still take the best action, it could be studying a book on a topic of real interest to you.
• How will living this moment benefit my entire life? Maybe you will know not to make that same mistake again, maybe you’ll learn something important that you can refer to for the rest of your life, and just maybe you can drink in the situation and be grateful for your life.

When you understand your self-determined purpose for being alive, you can relate any situation in your life to your values and determine how to act in accordance with your deepest purpose. I consider this to be a main constituent of fulfillment and an invaluable step in being engaged with our lives adequately.

Savor this second, you only have so many of them.

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