When time stops the universe disappears. ~ Wei Wi Wei
A young athlete says she knows she should not be attached to winning, yet she is, because her coach, family and country are invested in it. Wanting to win on the court is fine; that is what a contest is for. But we never know who the next opponent will be, and the one opponent always present is ourselves. She also fears that starting at 14 was too late. The past is fixed, so what is left is to play the cards we are dealt. Where does our real contest lie?
Sisyphus pushes a rock up a hill forever, knowing it will always roll back down. A regular workman does the same thing inside a job: he keeps pushing too, except he hopes it will eventually pay off, a promotion, a house, a better life. This hope is often just a comfortable lie. Sisyphus, who expects nothing and still keeps going, is actually more honest than we are. The real question is not whether the effort is worth it, but whether we can stop lying to ourselves about it.
We often defend a bad choice by pointing to a worse one: stay dishonest or starve, keep the wrong grip or stop playing. But the real trouble is not the option we picked. It is the option we never let ourselves see. Action does not need greed or attachment to find its energy. The third way begins by rejecting both false choices, without knowing what comes next. Which of our everyday choices are really false dilemmas?
If you are honest, you will find that significant chunks of your time are being taken up by activities you do not even want to admit to yourself. The thing is, we ought to be objective; we ought to know where it is really going. And you might discover that nobody is actually all that short of time. Time is there; it’s just that when it is spent on activities that please us, we try to hide that time because it’s our little joyful secret.
“The food is not good. You smell bad. You do not flush properly. You are overspending on this thing. No, I would not watch that movie." That is the stuff of your usual domestic. What else do you fight over? Whether or not Trump should interfere in Ukraine? Is that what husbands and wives fight over? No. Only these things. "Why were you ogling at the neighbor?" Focus on what is important and forget the rest.
The real issue is not about time at all. You are spending time exactly according to your values. Don’t ask how to utilize time. Ask yourself, "Do I know what is truly valuable?" When you are clear about what is truly valuable in life, all your time will be devoted to that. Become clear. Know what is truly valuable.
