I wear a broken watch.

Time...do we really "get it?" We love it and hate it, cherish it and forget about it, use it and waste it. Is it real or does it only exist because we created it as a tool to measure something we still have yet to understand? The human brain can only comprehend so much so will we ever be able to understand "time?" How do you perceive it? I once read in the book The Time is Now that if you ask a bird the time, it will say “NOW!” This tool we call Time is now and only the now. Every moment is experienced as the now and our experiences and memories are all just moments of NOW adding to the last and continue building on each other to create one’s life. There is no past, nor future - just moments of NOW that you already experienced and will hopefully continue to experience. It's easy to forget about because we get caught up looking at clocks and schedules. It's not NOW, its 1:08 and I have plans at 8:00, right!? Obviously we need "Time" to function as a species. When you have responsibilities and engagements, things would crumble if there were no tool to keep track of the days. If our tool of time didn't exist then imagine your boss saying when to come into work next...when would you go in? Let that sink in for a moment! Woah, right? Or if you plan a night out with friends it would sound more like "I'll see you at sundown," rather than 8:00PM. The foundation we have built as a society does not allow for this kind of application of the NOW.

I conceptualize time every day and no matter how deep I go in to thinking about it, I may never fully be able to comprehend the vast potential of such a curiosity with my human brain.

I have determined when I will die according to the measurement of time. One day, while in a meditative state, a number came to me. A number that I knew not of the spiritual significance until something like 2 years later. 108. I will live to be 108 years old and I feel that in every ounce of the being and essence. I do not know why that number came to me but I am sure it came from a pure source outside the realms of my human mind. On January 1, 2101 at 12:01:48 I will pass away. I was born in December of 1992 and my death will be delayed to the new year as that is one of my favorite experiences in the world. There is something cleansing as well as grounding as you step into the new year - as if you’ve made it! You’ve survived and hopefully thrived another full cycle defined as “one year.” Knowing that I will be 108 and have lived to see the year 2101, I will die peacefully 108 seconds after the strike of that experience. I will pass away in a state of pure bliss that I can only imagine until the moment comes. When I think of that day as I am right NOW, I feel it as if time were not in the way. I have felt many overwhelming emotions of that event as I sit here in my cozy apartment in downtown Reno, NV. I close my eyes and my conscience defies time and places me in that blissful moment. It is pure happiness. I do not know where it will be nor any of the experiences and people I will have brought with me to that moment. All I do know it that it will be the most beautiful moment of my existence because after all, it is MY existence and nobody else’s. Yes I may experience bringing a child into the world, loving a woman and many other life-changing moments, but leaving this physical world knowing THAT will be more beautiful than the event itself.

It seems all too common to try and live a selfless life as if it’s wrong for people to live selfishly first. My take on that is that you cannot sustainably do so. That is a concept I often refer to as pouring from an empty cup. You may give your food to someone in need but if you do not have the means of attaining your next meal, you will starve. If you give someone the shirt off your back, you will freeze in the cold months to come if you do not have the means of attaining another. You must first succeed before you help others otherwise they will drag you down with them. Sucks to say, but if happens every day and many people become the very thing they were trying to help. Not always in such extreme cases however it does happen and it’s sad to see. Take care of YOU and THEN, you can take care of others for the rest of your live. Yes, you can take care of others as you go, but always remember that the scale must be balanced. Now doesn’t that sound ideal? Selfishness and selflessness can live in harmony if not taken to the extremes.

Time is tool and we use it to measure the smallest and largest increments of experiences relevant to our lives. From the 2 minute kitchen timer to your retirement planning, TIME is here to guide us. The one thing you cannot escape however is that fact that will always remain, you don’t have unlimited time. We are mortal beings and unless there are powers at work that will someday defy the effects of time, you will die. So with that in mind, how do you use it. Do you spend hours a day watching irrelevant shows and movies or are you working on yourself? Are you growing or are you comfortable? Comfort is a shortcut to death. The world will pass you by and before you know it, regret will kick in as you lay on your deathbed and it will be too late to do anything about it. So take risks! No matter where you are in time, if you are alive and able, young or old, it’s not too late! Use what time you have left. I have 82+ years (30,250 days to be exact). I do not plan on being aggressively active toward this mindset all of those haha but I sure as hell do not intend to waste them. There are times to have fun and relax but don’t dont that scale tip too far in the wrong direction. Risk will always be greater than regret. Focus on YOU and appreciate the NOW ‘cause what’s the alternative? You know...and it doesn’t sound very fulfilling does it?

Have a great day and amazing life!

P.S. Open your mind and listen to time to seek that end-all date. I have it written up on my wall and update it every morning. Someday I will have a large countdown clock made custom that will reside in the space I spend a majority of my time. Once you find it, feel it. Think about it every day and let it drive you as it truly IS a reminder of our mortality. After all, that’s what TIME really boils down to - a reminder that you will die. So don’t waste it!

Clock is ticking…whether you hear it or not:)