Don’t hurry; be happy now!

Now is the perpetual reconfiguration of wholeness.

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Each action you personally take reconfigures wholeness, now.

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Each action I personally take reconfigures wholeness, now.

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Each action any person takes reconfigures wholeness, now.

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I note that each ego consciousness looking at and bestowing meaning is an action that reconfigures wholeness, now.

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That means that in some fundamental way, we are all equal co-creators of wholeness, now.

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It is irrational to conclude that your action is more important than mine. It is irrational to conclude that any action is more important than any other, as if wholeness was a simple sum of actions; and that you could just snip out this or that bit and it would not matter. It is certain that wholeness is exactly, only and always itself (that is tautologically true). It is also certain that wholeness necessarily includes everything, everywhere, all at once, therefore there is no coherent way to determine objectively if any part of whole, however tiny, however seemingly insignificant it may seem to be to you, that one thing matters more than anything else.

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I certainly do not mean to imply that nothing matters; it would be an error of existential philosophy to assume nothing matters; the correct interpretation of existential philosophy is that there is no intrinsic meaning in anything, rather, ego consciousness collectively bestows meaning upon everything. In fact, I am actually saying that everything matters the same as everything else, because whole cannot be what whole is if you remove any tiny bit of it (that is tautologically true). Of course, if you remove some tiny bit, that certainly reconfigures now.

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Each of us reconfigures wholeness by looking at and bestowing meaning upon now, and we do that by simply taking the next step (step = any action), whatever that step might be. Every step you take is exactly, only and always the next step, and every step is for the very first time, now. Therefore, every step is equal to every other step; every action is equal to every other action; every self is equal to every other self; every-thing is equal to every other thing.

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I do not mean to imply everything is the same; that is empirically obviously not the case.

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Life is quite simply doing one thing instead of another.

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Why would you ever choose to hurry, when you can simply be here now?

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Don’t hurry; be happy now!

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You have freewill; therefore, you can hurry if you want to, but I have not found any happy or any fun or any meaning in hurry. Perhaps you have, but I can’t grok how that could be possible. Of course, if you are in a 500-meter Olympic race, then fast is what you must do, but in that case, fast is intrinsic to what you are doing, not something you add on to what you are doing. In other words, hurry is not what intrinsic fast means. Hurry is when you could choose to go slow or you could choose to go fast, and your choice is to go fast; particularly if your choice to go fast becomes your default setting for all of your actions, which means it becomes automatic (it slips into the subconscious), then it is almost as if you no longer have any choice in the matter. That is a very bad habit.

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Perhaps you believe that you literally have no choice, for instance you are already late for work, or the kids are late for school, or you have to catch a flight and heavy traffic is at a standstill. That simply means (if we jump to a higher logical level), that go fast is intrinsic to that particular situation; it is not something you add onto the circumstances; then go fast is just part of what you are doing, and there is no necessity to add worry on top of the going fast. In fact, adding worry on top of hurry is one of the most pernicious bad habits you could accept into your subconscious. That is a higher logical level in the sense that I am making the distinction between intrinsic fast and add-on hurry. It boils down to some things you naturally do fast (because they are intrinsically fast things, like running), other things you naturally do slow (because they are intrinsically slow things, like smelling a rose or Tantric sacred sexuality). The higher logical level means your ego consciousness not only acts, it is conscious of acting and acts with intention.

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I suggest you can reset your default to sloth-warp speed, rejecting, say warp-8-speed. For instance, why hurry when you make toast? Do you actually believe the toaster will go faster because you are in a hurry? Why hurry when you take a shower? Instead of taking a shower to get ready for work, why not just take a shower, even if you take a short one? In other words, why not just make the shower what you are doing, not as a means to an end?

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Be honest, is every shower you take like the one you take getting ready to go to work? Why hurry when you make love? Is your lovemaking over, typically in less than 15 minutes? Why hurry when you do your work? Is the quality of your work better when you rush? What about doing your art, what about dancing, what about eating a ripe tomato; are you in a hurry? Why hurry as a fundamental tactic (= the default setting) attached (= added on) to virtually everything you do? Can you honestly say there is any happy or fun or meaning in any of your hurry? Can you honestly deny there is virtually always some degree of worry, frustration, stress, anxiety, etc. attached to the hurry?

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The problem is when you add hurry onto everything that is intrinsically slow. Exercise: I challenge you to reconsider all the things you do each day; literally take an inventory and ask yourself, would this action be better or worse if I go slow or go fast? For instance, if I go slow or if I go fast, would that make my experience of doing something more enjoyable, more fun, more meaningful, etc.? In addition to that, would my action of doing something produce a better or worse result if I go slow or if I go fast? Would my efficiency be better or worse, if I go slow or if I go fast? Would the probability of success from my action be higher if I go slow or if I go fast? Would the quality of the outcome from my action likely be better or worse if I go slow or if I go fast? I certainly do acknowledge there is a time and a place and sets of circumstances which make it quite rational and appropriate, perhaps even necessary, to go fast, but as I have said, that is not the same as hurry.

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How bankrupt is the metaphysics of physics that tells you that you have no freewill; that tells you that particles acting randomly, literally cause you to do everything that you do. Hey, believe what you want, but I suggest there is no fun, no happiness, no meaning, no joy and no life in a metaphysics that claims a human being who is alive and conscious is no different from inorganic stone or a bar of iron. That is the most pathetic abstraction-interpretation of existence and reality that ever was conceived by the minds of human beings. You cannot coherently claim that particles acting randomly force you to hurry; no, hurry is always a freewill choice.

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Every now moment is for the first time. Every now moment, your life literally starts over, but starting over does not mean you are a baby again. There is no reversal of time. Time never stops and never goes back. You can learn something from the past (from the record of the past, now), but you can never go back to it, because the past is done, never to be repeated. The past was one time and one date exactly, and nothing can change that. However, you can choose to change and choose to act differently, with each next step, because each next step literally is the first step for the rest of your life that starts over with that step.

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Therefore, your only option is to take the next step, knowing that is exactly what life is; simply doing one thing instead of another; but always grokking, that you get to choose; you have freewill. An inorganic elementary particle does not, and a stone does not have any attention, intention, choice, or freewill. Particles can only do whatever they do automatically (as governed by inviolable laws of physics). Only consciousness has powers of intention, attention and choice. Having conscious intention does not mean you can violate laws of physics, but you certainly can choose to try, for instance you could jump off the roof of a tall building with the intention of flying, but you cannot escape the consequences of taking that action.

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Since all of us humans are collectively taking the next step now, the reconfiguration of wholeness will not wait for you while you think about what the next step is, rather thinking could be the next step, but whatever your next step is, the reconfiguration of wholeness will occur exactly, only and always now. What else could you or anyone possibly do other than take the next step? When could you or anyone else take the next step if not now? Where could you or anyone else be when they take the next step other than exactly where they are, and where else could that be if not here now?

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If you are interpreting what I say to mean (for yourself), that you have to hurry (that you could not choose otherwise), you are making a simple but profound error of judgement. No set of circumstances can determine your freewill choices, unless you permit them to do so, unless you voluntarily give up your freewill. Of course, every choice and every action will necessarily have a reaction, without exception, and you cannot stop those reactions, because every next step any human being makes necessarily is embedded in the reconfiguration of wholeness now, and it is certain that all of the next steps of all of the agents (human and otherwise) will be embedded in that reconfiguration of wholeness now; not a single one will be ignored.

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It is a simple fact, that the perpetual reconfiguration of wholeness cannot be stopped, nor will it wait for anything or anyone. Furthermore, that reconfiguration is not just the sum of all those next steps that collective humanity takes, rather, wholeness now is dynamic, perpetually refreshed (= reconfigured), and each now moment is for the very first time. And you are part of that reconfigured wholeness now, completely independent of specifically what your action may or may not be, by simply looking at and bestowing meaning upon now. Your only option is with conscious intention take some next step, otherwise your next step will be to be dragged along with the rest of reality = wholeness now, like sitting on a double decker tour bus looking upon the streets of London watching everything pass by. It appears to me that way too many people who are players in the game of life watch the world go by, like a football player permanently assigned to the bench from which all they can do is watch but never actually play the game. That is what powerlessness looks like. In fact, you are a player in the game of life, and you can join play on the field that our whole universe is, by simply choosing and acting upon that choice taking the next step. There is no coach that can force you to sit on the bench and no coach that can invite you into the game; you are already in it by the facts of actually existing, being alive and being conscious. The only exit (for you or any other human being) is death of the physical body.

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In my Lifecoaching practice, I find it surprisingly common when I talk to people about their lives, at first, they cannot tell me what they actually want, which is probably why they seek Lifecoaching. The most common response is they say, “I don’t really know,” “I’m not really sure,” “I’m trying to figure that out,” or some variation on that theme. Other common responses include: “I want to love my family,” and “I want to have lots of money,” but lots of money translates into “I want to have things, go places, and have experiences,” (possibly shared with the family). When they answer “to have a successful career,” if I encourage them to dig a little deeper, it commonly resolves to career is the way to get the money and money is necessary to permit them to consume all the things they (and/or the family) want to consume. Way down the list is that someone has a burning desire to follow their bliss, do something they love (some specific calling or natural aptitude they may have), and that is something they want to do for itself, not just to earn money to buy objects of consumption. That could include being a mother or father (the supremely important family thing for some), but eventually the kids grow up and leave home; then what is a mother and father as the primary thing you are doing with your life?

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Something is surely wrong with this picture. I don’t know what I want to be, or what I want to do, or who I am, etc., reveals a pandemic package of unhappiness + loneliness + hopelessness + powerlessness + confusion. It is not a stretch of sound logical inference to make the connection between the metaphysics of physicalism (humans are no different than stones or bars of steel; no freewill, etc.), and this pandemic. It is not a stretch of sound logical inference to make the connection between an extractive global economic system based upon maximizing wealth and consumption, that is literally destroying the climate on Planet Earth (the only home we have), and this pandemic. Both capitalist and socialist economic systems are historically and remain currently extractive (virtually all industrial economies are extractive); only indigenous economic systems are examples of ecologically sustainable economies. How much climate collapse do we permit by tolerating an extractive global economic system? It is not a stretch of sound logical inference to make the connection between billionaires breathing the same air as starving homeless children, and this pandemic. How many starving children do we permit by tolerating a single billionaire? How many innocent children being murdered at school do we permit, by tolerating having no sensible gun control legislation?

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It is not a stretch of sound logical inference to make the connection between everyone, always by default, hurrying regardless of what they are doing and taking little if any pleasure in whatever it is that they are doing, having little or no fun, little or no happiness and little or no hope of ever creating those spiritually necessary states of being human (secure, happy and hopeful). What kind of quality of life can someone claim to have if they are lonely, unhappy and hopeless, regardless of how much or how little money and consumption they might possess?

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Life is sacred, but it is not being experienced that way, by billions of human beings, who’s every-day existence is literally filled with suffering (starvation, homelessness, slavery, human trafficking, climate collapse, genocidal wars, etc.). In our tiny global village, how could anyone simply ignore the magnitude of human suffering on Planet Earth and not be damaged by that knowledge?

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To suggest, as I am doing, that slowing down can be a spiritual strategy to begin the healing process for humanity, is not simplistic and not na?ve. Rather it is a good starting place (necessary but not sufficient). Furthermore, it is something everyone can simply do, whoever they are, wherever they are, however good or bad things seem to be. For instance, if you are eating a piece of bread, let that be all that you are doing; give that all of your attention, savor each bite, don’t rush to the next bite, don’t eat the bread as quickly as possible, and don’t put any of your attention on any of those parts of the pandemic package. I am not suggesting that we can ignore our problems; rather only that we can be fully present in each next step that we take, including steps to solve our problems. It is certain that our problems (for instance the pandemic package) are right here right now, but it is equally certain that the solutions to our problems are also right here right now.

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We create the problems; we can solve them; however, the window for taking actions to solve those problems is closing rapidly. Once the critical ecological tipping points are breached (some scientists claim we have already breached 4 or 5 out of perhaps 15 such tipping points), that literally means it is too late to fix the problems, because virtual extinction will happen before those tipping points can be reset by nature, because the feedback loops activated by breaching those tipping points takes hundreds and sometimes thousands of years to self-correct. Some actually take millions of years to reset. No human technology can reset those tipping points. Human technology can help but only if we apply it to stop creating more of the problem.

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Does that mean we have to hurry to fix our problems? No; but it does mean we have to go fast. It means that stopping further damage must happen fast. We don’t hurry in order to take those necessary actions fast, rather we, as calmly and orderly as we can be, we must take the necessary actions to change right now and to change for good, for instance to immediately accelerate the reconfiguration of the global economy (some important steps have already been taken, and others required are well known) to be a circular economy (for instance leave the remaining fossil fuels in the ground); to guarantee basic essentials to all human beings on the planet, which simply means reallocating our wealth in such a way, that every human being has adequate clean water, food, housing, medical care, education, effective democratic governance, and a bit extra for entertainment and fun. After that, there need be no objection if someone is motivated to become a billionaire. However, the global tax system will be set to claw wealth away from the wealthiest as necessary to care for the neediest (need in relation to physical essentials, not psychological neediness). The limits of wealth tolerated by our social contract will be that all basic needs for everyone are fulfilled first. In the transition from immanent apocalyptic collapse, some strict wealth and consumption limits are almost certainly necessary, but those limits can be gradually relaxed, once we are confident humanity has returned to the approach side of tipping points, rather than the broached side.

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Don’t hurry; be happy now! ?If you hurry then you worry. If you slow down, you lose your frown. When you are still you discover you have will. When you see you know you are free.

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Whatever real clock time it is and whatever current calendar date it is, it is exactly, only and always now.

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