Intensity. Time. Imagination.

 I'm a week behind on posting and very intent on getting a lot of things done, so this will be a very short one. I've been questing a little to get some clarity on what the root of the issue is with always feeling short on time and overwhelmed with things to do, and the latest bit of insight I've gotten is help with prioritization. Whatever I'm deciding to do, I'm going to try using my imagination to project myself forward in time, to see the repercussions of doing that thing. If it turns out the repercussions are not good, then I won't do that thing. It's a simple idea really: us humans have the fairly unique ability among animals to imagine and simulate probable futures with some degree of accuracy. So, is my online shopping really going to enrich my life, if I look into the future? Maybe not. Hopefully with this approach, I'll be able to stop doing things which I later regret, wishing I'd "used my time better."

In any case, we'll give it a try. After all, to a great extent, time management is about priority management. We all get the same number of hours each day. We can't increase that, no matter what. So the only way to 'get more time' is to carefully garden where you're spending your time.

Another little tidbit that's on my mind. I recently listened to a talk, from a devotee of my favorite spiritual luminary, and they asked the Guru, "what is the main thing that keeps people from God realization (meaning enlightenment, Self realization, Moksha, whatever you want to call it.) and the teachers response was, "lack of intensity." That really struck me, and i wrote it on a sticky note and put it on my desk to keep reminding myself of that. I grew up in a spiritual movement were thousands of people were earnestly seeking enlightenment, but strangely none of them were achieving it, myself included. As I think back on it, I can confirm that just about all of them were seeking it without great intensity. It was a relaxed kind of seeking. Certainly nothing like Ramakrishna's declaration that you need to be seeking enlightenment like a man who is on fire is seeking a lake to jump into, or like that same person, who is drowning underwater in that lake would be seeking air.

If I look at myself honestly, I must admit I also do not have that level of intensity, and so I need to do something to change that. That's where the sticky note comes from. It's to remind me to keep praying, for that intensity, and have that intention, to cultivate it. It also reminds me, that the times I've had many of my greatest spiritual breakthroughs, were during periods of great intensity of my search, so I can at least give an initial confirmation that the advice seems sound, as far as my limited experience goes.