Is there anything more pure than the mind of a child?

Where the reality of a day goes on forever ~ entranced by all the love and peace around.  Never a day lost, never a day wasted. Time does not exist in the manner we experience as adults. Time is in abundance.

The preciousness of every heartbeat, a soothing melody moving the world forward as it should.

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Yesterday I read the average human has somewhere around three billion heartbeats within a lifetime. Not a small number, but disappointing nonetheless. It gave me pause to consider the value of each heartbeat. To reassess the importance of time. 

My goal is not to squander any more heartbeats, and of course the humor was not lost on me as I ‘wasted’ several thousand mulling this over…

Roughly 2,000 years ago, the Stoic philosopher Seneca wrote an essay, On the Shortness of Life, about how our existence rushes by and only when we begin to understand the importance of time, it is too late. It’s over. 

Seneca believed for many, the tragedy was not because life itself is short, but the amount of time wasted makes it short. 

“We do not appreciate the value of time… life is long if you know how to use it.” – Seneca

Caught up in social media and daily news cycles, it becomes easy to go through the motion of living. We lose our consciousness and with it beautiful scenes become a faded blur of a sound-bite world.

The silver lining of the past couple of years has been the space to step back from the chaos of life; catch a glimpse of what a world looks like when time is available and not the end goal.

Listen to the heartbeat and life opens up.

Seneca too appreciated the heartbeat of life. He railed against the preoccupied souls wrapped up in the material world, chasing anything but an authentic life – supplying us with the quote:

“So you must not think a man has lived long because he has white hair and wrinkles: he has not lived long, just existed long.” – Seneca

This quote hammered into me the need to unlatch myself from the zeal of business; work hard but relish those moments of peace. Not an easy thing to do.

The beat of time varies like the weather, similar to music and mood. There are days when running around with hair on fire is the only option, and long hours spent on projects a blast ~ but always with an eye on what brings bliss: exploring and learning something new.

Often such exploration comes via a book, a place to capture a different taste of philosophy; ideas of a culture sharing its wisdom. A time to relax, to let the serene pieces of life soak in.

The beat of the heart in harmony with the ticking of time leads the way. For those who know me, family and friends define who I am. It took me years to understand they also help define who I can become.

“How much happier is the man who owes nothing to anybody except the one he can most easily refuse, himself!” – Seneca

Seneca’s words have always had the power to snap me away from the mirage of success ~ “I lose the day in waiting for the night, and lose the night in fearing the dawn.” Shines a light on the false belief: if I could only have this, I would be happy…

It is an enlightening moment to understand how simple happiness can be. May not be a professional athlete or atop a business empire as once dreamt, but somehow I’m much better off.

I’ve over achieved. I’m happy.

A happiness evolved from a trust in fate; a natural rhythm dictating the evolution of connections.

There are times in life when things come together. Synchronicity ~ a natural paring.

Explanations are not necessary; when such moments come together, celebrate. Take time away from the chaos and melt into the surroundings.

Melt into the colors, melt with the scene, and then melt perfectly into the love of others.

These timeless moments create a few extra heartbeats, and time stands still. Damn. I love life 😊.

Close your eyes, take a deep breath, listen to the beat of your heart and jump into the unknown ~ it is the logical thing to do.

It is what we were made for.