Time Strategies

Day 2
Session 6
 

    I was so glad it was lunch time, I needed the break for thinking and besides, I was starving. I lit the gas to prepare beans on toast and Betty opened her pack of sandwiches.

‘I’ve brought some for you Stanley. While I’m making some for me I may as well make some for you. Abby is providing all the other food for you, so consider lunch my contribution.’

As if she didn’t have enough to do, but I didn’t argue as I knew they would contain meat and it must be hard for Stanley to exist solely on my vegetarian fayre.

She handed one to him which he gratefully accepted.

‘Thanks Bett.’

We decided to wait for June to arrive before we began our run round the caravan. Stanley said it would help to integrate her energies into the group.

She rounded the corner in her little Citroen waving cheerfully at us.

‘Hi everyone, lovely to see you. How’s it going?’

She managed to keep her smile even after we told her about the run. Stanley stood watching us thoughtfully while he puffed at his cigarette.

‘Why don’t you join us?’ I invited as we completed our first circuit. He just smiled and waved us on. We returned with five minutes to spare and seated ourselves in preparation. At exactly 2.30 p.m. Stanley was ready to begin. He stood up and waited a few moments in silence. I assumed he was tuning in to spirit.

He gave a little bow, with his hands together. I felt the energy change, Ti Ming was here.

‘This afternoon we will start with Time Strategies,’ he announced in an authoritative tone. I duly wrote:

Time Strategies

 
    ‘So tell me Abby, what kind of time strategies do you use?’ he enquired of me.

I shrugged and reeled off a list. ‘Prioritising, organising, delegating, is that the kind of thing you mean?’

‘Not quite. I mean what state of consciousness do you use in order to obtain the outcomes you require?’

This definitely didn’t sound like Stanley. ‘I don’t think I’m aware of using a state of consciousness to obtain outcomes,’ I confessed. ‘I didn’t know you could.’

He laughed, amused. ‘Oh but you do, we all do, and the outcome we get will depend on the type of state or strategy we have used, so it’s a good idea to bring our strategies into consciousness, wouldn’t you agree?’

I nodded twirling a lock of hair around my finger distractedly.

‘But how would you do that?’ Betty asked.

‘Well, suppose Abby was under pressure at work to produce a certain document, how would she react do you think?’

‘I don’t know, how would you react Abby?’ Betty looked at me.

It was an easy question for once, it happened to me all the time.

‘Well, I get stressed out, work through my lunch break, and stay late until it’s done.’

‘OK,’ Stanley started his marching on the spot, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

Regulating the energy, I remembered. Now I understood that his little habit had a purpose, I stopped being annoyed by it.

‘So would you say you were driven by time?’ Stanley enquired.

‘Definitely,’ I agreed.

‘So that is your time strategy,’ he informed me. ‘Can you give me another example of ways in which you are driven by time?’

It was another easy question. ‘Oh loads of ways. Getting to work on time, taking Laurence to school through the rush hour traffic on Mumbles Road, trying to meet deadlines, quarterly reviews. I constantly feel driven, there just never seems to be enough time to get everything done.’

‘Indeed,’ Stanley nodded gravely. ‘This is the outcome of the Driven by Time Strategy.

‘You mean there are other ways we could do things that would get us more time and different outcomes?’ Betty asked.

June laughed. ‘It sounds wonderful to me. I mean we could all use more time couldn’t we?’

He nodded gravely. ‘Indeed we could June.’

I was amazed. It had never occurred to me that there was any other way of doing things, or that if there was, it would result in changing the amount of time I had available.

‘What are the other time strategies?’ I was desperate to know and leaned forward, eager to hear more. I wrote down:

Negative Strategies

 (a) Driven by Time

 
    ‘Well now that you know there are others, what do you think Abby?’

I sighed, leaning back against the wall of the caravan. I might have known. Stanley was never one to give a straight answer. I wished the others would say something to help me out.

‘What other kinds of things do you do under pressure?’ he enquired.

‘Ask for help?’

‘Yes, asking for help is always a useful thing to do, but in this instance I am asking what you actually do.’

I considered. ‘Sometimes I just keep on regardless. If there’s no-one else to help and I’ve got to get something done I carry on until I finish, even if it’s getting late.’

I looked at him hopefully, wondering if I had said the right thing inadvertently. It felt like being back in French lessons, I was struggling to understand a foreign language and make sense of what was being said. In a way that was correct, I was struggling to understand my own unconscious mind, which speaks in a language that is foreign to the concious mind.

‘So you might say you are ignoring what time it is, in order to concentrate on the task?’

‘Yes, I suppose I am,’ I agreed.

He beamed at me delightedly.

‘There you are, your next strategy, Ignoring Time.’

‘Is that one?’ June asked dubiously.

‘It certainly is,’ he confirmed. ‘Unfortunately, to be driven by time and to ignore time are both negative time strategies. To be driven by time is to respond unconsciously to past conditioning and experiences and to ignore time is to refuse to acknowledge that time is passing. Tell me what are you thinking when you are ignoring time?’

It was such an odd question. I had no idea. ‘Well I don’t think I’m thinking about time at all, I’m concentrating on what I’m doing.’

‘So you’re not aware that time is passing?’

‘Well yes I am, I mean, I suppose I do look at the clock, but then just kind of blank it out and quickly focus on something else.’

He listened attentively to my description, like an eager puppy waiting for you to throw the ball for him. He was almost quivering with excitement.

‘So you are quite literally ignoring time?’

He pounced on the ball and laid it at my feet, tail wagging, pleased with himself.

I felt like a naughty schoolgirl who had been caught talking in class. For some inexplicable reason I felt guilty. It seemed rude to be ignoring time.

(b) Ignoring Time

‘And when you feel driven by time, what are you thinking then?’

He was relentless.

‘Well, when I’m in panic mode it’s something like ‘Oh no, it can’t be that time already, I’ll never get it done in time.’

Stanley nodded, still on the trail.

‘And would you say that this self talk is positive or negative?’

I pulled a face at him and grinned. ‘Negative.’

‘So do you think it would be better to be more positive about time?’

‘Yes of course,’ I agreed.

‘So how could you do that?’

I was silent.

‘Anyone?’ he opened it out, speaking as if there was an audience of hundreds.

It suddenly occurred to me that perhaps there were in the spirit world, perhaps they had all gathered to attend the Time Workshops and learn from Ti Ming.