As I sat down to write this week’s experiment about how we relate to time, I realized that the theme of resonating also relates to what I want to share with you. In fact, resonating relates to all the experiments, as each one invites us to attune ourselves to a particular perspective, experience, or exploration, and attuning ourselves consciously to qualities of being and doing is the practice of resonating.

Most of us have been taught that time is something actual, something that measures itself out in seconds, minutes, and hours. We experience the passage of time as something concrete and absolute, and yet our relationship to time actually is a subjective one, affected by a number of things. For example, sitting in a boring lecture can stretch time so that 30 minutes feels like hours. At other times, when we’re having a good time, 30 minutes may feel like 10 or less. Think about the ways in which the same amount of time changes for you, depending on where you are and what you’re doing.

I have a meeting very early this morning, which requires me to be right on time and on track in all the various chores of the morning. As I began to engage the process of getting ready to begin the day, I drew on something I learned in my hypnosis training, many years ago, which I have used more times than I can count. There is a phrase that our deeper wisdom (sometimes called the unconscious) understands, even if it doesn’t make sense in physical, time-space terms. That phrase is: “Time is my friend; I have all the time I need in the time I have.”

For mysterious reasons known only to the part of our being that lives outside time and space, we have the ability to stretch time, or to shorten it, more actively and consciously than we normally do, in order to meet the needs of the moment. For example, if you have only a half hour to complete a project, notice what happens if you take a moment to settle in, quiet yourself, and begin to resonate with the stillness that exists – always – behind every kind of awareness. Then, in that felt-sense of stillness (or any other form of centering you may choose), tell yourself that you have all the time you need in the time you have to complete the project. Repeat the suggestion to yourself a couple of times, and allow yourself to take it in without thinking about it. The rational mind will come up with a thousand and one reasons why you don’t have enough time in the time you have, so you want to by-pass that and go directly to the place where you can resonate with the experience of a more fluid sense of time.

You can play with this experiment in any way you’d like, shaping your experience of time to match the demands of the day. Sometimes you’ll be amazed at how true it is that you have all the time you need in the time you have. At other times, you’ll find that there are just too many things hollering for attention, and you can’t find the place where you have all the time you need in the time you have. At these times, it’s useful to add a phrase to your suggestion about time: “Time is my friend; I have all the time I need in the time I have to get done what actually needs to get done.” Over the years, it’s been my experience that this added phrase helps me prioritize without necessarily realizing that I’m doing so.

As with all the experiments, give yourself permission to explore this one with curiosity. It’s best to approach it softly, with an open willingness to be surprised, rather than in a clenched, pressured way. Let yourself be delighted and surprised when it works, and let it go when you aren’t able to tap into the experience of having all the time you need in the time you have. Practice with this one helps, as the suggestion becomes more and more real to your deep wisdom, as you begin to take for granted that you have the time you need in the time you have to do the things you need or want to do, and as you develop increasing skill in resonating with time as your friend.

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