Q: How can we relax the pressure of time?
A: First, one has to realize that most of the pressures of “time” are actually pressures of “the ego”. Time can’t put pressure on you at all. If someone, or even you, tell you that you have to get something done by a certain hour, time of day, or day, this is not time, but someone’s, or your own opinion on what is wanted. A simple technique to help with this is to ask yourself, “Is it true?”
> Is it true I need to pay my bills on time?
> Is it true I need to make dinner by this time?
> Is it true that I need to retire at this age?
> Is it true that I need to be doing such and such with my career by such and such a time?
The ego’s demands are endless. To try and pacify the ego will never work. By its very nature, the ego is a problem generator/solver. It will find a problem in virtually anything, then try and figure out how to fix it.
However, when you ask yourself “Is it true I need to go to the store by such and such a time?” a curious thing happens. All of a sudden, you find all these constrictions of time, all these needs, are actually “wants”. You want to be on time to work to do a good job. You want to retire by a certain age. You want to save this much money by this time. And so on.
Just feel the feeling that you get when you say “I want”, vs. “I need”. The “I need” is a confirmation of the emptiness of the ego. It says “I need this to be happy, to be complete”. “I want” is very different.
It’s natural for us to want things, and when you acknowledge this, you are allowing yourself to be exactly as you are. It is only when “I want” morphs into “I need” that stress develops.
Try this experiment on yourself.
Ask Big Me 