No need to be apologetic. Time is ours to spend happily..

Yesterday evening, to prepare myself for a hike up a hill in Yan, Kedah, I bought some bread from one of the sundry shops in my area. Upon seeing me, the man told me,"Today, there's hardly anything to do. I watched television for a while and did some gardening. Time drags. It was still early afternoon with so much time on my hands." And he, a Chinese on Chinese New Year day, had nothing to do. So, he came to his shop, opened it and stood behind his counter to wait for someone to come so that he could occupy his time serving somebody and talking to someone. His tone of voice was apologetic. He realised he ought to be somewhere enjoying his Chinese New Year.

Actually, there was no necessity to feel bad about doing business or working on a holiday. After all, time is ours to spend as we wish. If we are happy doing it, who is to say it ought not to be done. But then if it is no joy to work at a business and yet have to do it just to kill time, then there is obviously something very wrong somewhere.

That is the reason we should cultivate some kind of hobby and have friends. Thinking about hobbies, I have so many that I could never find the time to enjoy all of them. And when it comes to friends, when one is friendly, there is no worry about having nobody to do things with. Everything about hobbies and friendship is as simple as that.

All of us have an inclination towards something. The more active people are usually interested in some kind of activities, be they indoor or outdoor. The quieter type has a lot of of things they can be involved in too. You can have a game of chess, participation in a discussion group or a sharing group.Perhaps reading or searching the internet is your kind of fun. Whatever it is, do find some kind of interest or hobby for it will come in useful some time.

And some of these activities lead to friendship for people of the same interest flock together to enjoy their likes. And such friends usually meet very often to quench their desire to participate and exchange knowledge in the same activity. So, in some hobbies, knowledge, friends and activities go together.

From what has been written it is without a doubt that humans need activities to live a satisfactory way, to find happiness in being alive. What is the use of being alive if time drags by and leave us uncertain of what to do with it?

How long is your time?

One complained, "I just don't have the time to finish everything." while another gloomily responded with "I have done this, that and all those but it is still not yet seven o'clock."

Why are different people discovering that the speed of time differs from one day to the next, one incident to another and from one person to the other? Is there a different speed of time for each and everyone of us?

I remembered the times I had dates with very interesting beautiful people. Somehow, my mood changes and everything is so much more easier to complete. After finishing what seemed like hundreds of kilograms of work, the appointed time had yet to arrive. Wishing hard for the seconds to fly faster ahead, it seemed to want to play or fool around with me, slowing down to a crawl as I awaited to reach the appointed time.

Then. there were those teachers' trainee days when an assignment had to be completed in two days. I rushed to gather information and as quick as lightning settled down to put all those knowledge onto paper. Time cheekily smiled and sped through the seconds, minutes and hours so fast it left me panting, exhausted and unable to catch up with it. What a nasty guy time was at such times! With hardly any time for sleep or rest, time knew how to stay just slightly ahead of me to not allow me to give up yet left me just shaken enough to hastily complete my assignment.

Yet, all of us know that a second everywhere moves in a second, no more faster or slower than that in any place throughout the world. So, it is all in the mind. The state of mind that a certain idea or thought has put it into, causing it to be more nervous and anxious, sadder and more uncertain or happier and more confident. These states of the mind affect our view of time and the speed of our actions. Yes, the speed of our actions is the culprit although we usually blame the time even though we are well aware that twenty-four hours is that long and no more or less.

So fear of inability to accomplish a certain task within a certain time frame may affect our mind and this slows down our own reactions and actions, slowing down our work causing it take a longer time to complete and giving the impression that time is moving faster than usual, inadvertently causing us to compete with the ever steady time and, of course, losing out to it.

Similarly, we emerge the winner when our state of mind is positive and confident. With confidence, our thoughts and movements are faster and tasks are accomplished well ahead of time without any wastage due to any uncertainty. Thus, we need less time to achieve whatever goal we set ourselves to. Time, at such times, seem so much slower.

At this point, I remember how one businessman told some people that before he came into the Art of Living, he did not seem to be able to finish all that has to be done in a day. His mind was not as calm and stable. Then, after practising the 'Kriya', listening to knowledge and doing meditation for some time, he discovered that the same amount of work could be covered in a much shorter time giving him ample time for rest and recreation. I believe he gained greater confidence with calmness in his mind in facing his daily tasks. With greater confidence and calmness, greater concentration in the tasks at hand is possible, resulting in more that can be done in a much shorter time. As such the mind is an important factor in our everyday lives. If it is in turmoil, there can be less concentration on everything, less is accomplished and time becomes insufficient.

So, have you thought of training your mind to be calm and focused? Without the calmness and concentration, can there be efficiency and confidence in your life?