what a waste

We were listening to a song on the radio that talked about wasting time (something by Morrissey no less) and Eva turned to me and said, "You can't waste time." I thought for a moment and was curious about what else she had to say and said, "No? What do you think?" and Eva said, "Time moves with you. It will always be with you. You can't waste it." Good point. So astute these children. So wise. Uncultured really. Thankfully.

The implication in- "You can't waste time" is also "You can't waste you". Isn't that what wasting time implies? That we are somehow wasting ourselves? That if we were doing what we should be doing, using our time more effectively, it would be better for us?

Out in the garden I got to thinking about how so often we want to be where we are not. These are the very situations in which we believe we are wasting time- our time- as though there were never enough time and by doing what we are doing now (if we want to be elsewhere), we are making poor use of what little time we have. This goes for anything else. Wasting food- not using it the way it should be used. Wasting lives- not doing what we should be doing. Wasting away- again with the not enough.

I think what struck me most when Eva said we can't waste time because time moves with us is that we are inherently OK no matter what we do. We can't waste time because we are already fine and no matter what we do with our time, with ourselves, we will still be fine. In fact nothing that we do can make us not OK. Imagine that. Of course we can't waste time. The next time you think you are wasting time, imagine that whatever you do, you will be OK- you are OK- and choose what you want to do from that place, from the place of being OK. Watch time move with you and see where you go.