One lesson traveling teached me is a different sight about the construction of time.

There are many mysteries ranking about it. Time is in everything. Our whole life seems to be accompanied by a ticking clock that is sectioning our journey into chapters.

Time has a power over us that we‘re often not even aware of. There’s the rhythm of nature that has its own clock and there’s the timeframe made by humans after which we choose to live our days on this planet. Often we feel chased by the fast passing changes of time.

Very often we are in a trap, walking with eyes open but blinded from the distractions of the illusions of our own reality. The desire of wanting. The desire of attachment. The desire of always being one step ahead of where we are.

When was the last time you felt the very moment with every of your heart beat? When was the last moment you just focused on how your lungs fill your body with oxygen?

When was the last time you listened with the pure intention of only listening, not giving attention to any other thing?

Is it already longer ago? Because there’s the memories of the past… The carrying and plans of the future. The to do list for the tomorrow, the next week, the next year – for our lifetime. When in fact there is only the now.

There’s nothing bad at all with having goals and dreams in life. It’s like the fuel that keeps us motivated growing and evolving. But there’s a beautiful story in Paolo Coelho‘s book called „the Alchemist“. It pictures perfectly what often happens along the way of chasing dreams and living passionately:

In the bool there is a story about a boy who is told to carry a spoon full of oil around a castle.  He gets the task to not to drop any of the oil.  When he returns, he successfully made it and didn’t spill any of the oil. But when he got asked from his teacher if he also had a look around and saw the beauty of the castle he didn’t remember any of it, he was to fixated on the task in front of him.

So now again he has to go through the castle, but this time the boy is told to have a look at the beautiful castle.

When the boy returns he is able to explain what he saw, but all of the oil in the spoon was spilled.

“The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never forget the drops of oil in the spoon.” From Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist

When was the last time you haven’t been chasing after something? Just letting go and trust. When was the last time you felt completely present and content within the moment, with where and who you are?

We will always be chaser, we will always be on the path of searching for more, because there will always be more worth searching for. And while searching we loose sight of all the beauty along the way. We will miss out all the joy if we are too fixated on outside goals and happiness.

But the one who can take himself out of the illusion of time and the construction of a thousand thoughts, can suddenly see clearly. Can suddenly feel how much joy lies in every breath, in every smile, in every color that makes our world look bright. Giving your time to someone is one of the most precious gifts you can make.

In my life I was very often a goal chaser. But during traveling I’ve learned to let go more often. Meditation is a good way to practice being more in the very momentan and let go of attachements. Nature too because live gets less fast paced and calmer. You can find peace in every imaginable way. In the sparkling eyes of someone, in a pure smile, in the calming noice of a river, by laughing until your stomach hurts, by dancing the night away, by preparing dinner or drink a cup of coffee. Every single time you fill your live with conscious joy and satisfaction for wherever you are and whatever you do peace will fulfill you throughout.

Hold on to look around you. Treasure the process, the way of the journey is far more important. It’s what really counts. Like the quote says down below:

Ego says: „Once everything falls into place I will find peace“.

Spirit says: „Find peace and everything will fall into place“.