Now Is the Time

Now Is the Time

Junious Ricardo Stanton

The concept of time is an artificial construct invented by humans to help us understand the processes of living by providing reference points using such notions as the past, present and future. Humans have marked time differently over the millennia. Some used the moon, others the sun while others invented calendars to mark the passing of days months and years.

But in the end, time is merely a man-made construct something all cultures internally agree upon to suit their needs and purposes. In our era, we say things like: time marches on, time stood still, or time is speeding up. It is none of this, because the concept of time is something we make up, it is not real, it is not an actual thing.

Many of us are fascinated by time. We’re always focused on some aspect of time, the past, the future and the present. Unfortunately, most of our focus is in the form of worry, anxieties, apprehensions, anticipations and expectations. Remember when you were younger you couldn’t wait to turn a certain age or you felt you couldn’t wait for your natal day, a holiday or special event to arrive? That was in the future something you were enthusiastically anticipating. On the other hand, there were things you dreaded, maybe a doctor’s visit, a school examination or a conversation with teacher, your parents, a girlfriend or boyfriend. All of these were couched in the concept of future time.

On the other hand, many of us are overly fixated with the past. We spend inordinate amounts of energy and thought thinking about, emotionalizing, rehashing, regretting and reliving events and experiences that have already happened not only to us but others whether a few days, months or even lifetimes ago. For example, history is seen as the past, some of us want to leave it there and not remember it at all while others carry it with them constantly for better or worse. We spend our energy often agonizing about our experiences, or joyously reliving them because of what we accomplished and achieved or didn’t.

From a practical perspective all we have is now, the present. The past has already happened and the future is yet to occur. Yes, we can learn many valuable lessons from our past, our history impacts our present because life is a continuum, on ongoing process. We can use past experiences to help us navigate the present. We are all creatures of habit. We tend to do things over and over again often because it feels “comfortable” or because we want to fit in, conform to others’ expectations and demands of us, their norms or our cultural patterns. All we have is now, that being the case let us decide to use this now, this moment to be our best selves.

The best way to effectuate this type of self-actualization and transformation is by living in the now, being aware of the present, what many call being mindful. Our present can be better than our past if we choose it to be regardless of happenstance or what is going on around us. We have the power to alter our lives, we have the ability to effectuate change, to either deconstruct or reconstruct our lives by changing our thoughts, attitudes and our behavior. We have the ability to refashion and change the trajectory of our lives for better or worse. This is a powerful ability one very few of us take full advantage of because too often we are stuck in the past, worrying about the future or conforming to someone else’s vision or agenda!

Daily we are manipulated by nefarious forces using highly sophisticated technology to create a false reality and manufacture a state of being which benefits and enriches them totally at our expense. They want to enslave us in a dystopian technocratic hellscape. They do this by keeping us distracted, deceived, discombobulated and divided. We can escape their manufactured milieu by thinking critically, being aware, mindful and envisioning a purposeful life for ourselves here and now. We can not only alter our own destiny and quality of life; we can help change the world for the better. It is possible. Now is the time, take full advantage of all of its possibilities and potential.

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