Up: [[Experiencing Time]] Created: 2023-08-06 Updated: 2025-03-16 1. We will miss out on most things in life. Making choices of what we attend to is what makes life meaningful. [[The Significance of Choosing a Moment]] 2. We can’t ever get everything done. Therefore peace of mind comes from realizing this and stopping trying! 3. We’re all going to die. Time is finite. Really recognizing this makes it much easier to say ‘No’ to all but our most important things. 4. Perfection is impossible so we might as well start doing the thing we want to do that will never, ever be perfect. 5. There is no way to know what is going to happen in the future. All a plan can ever be is a *present-moment statement of intent…the future is under no obligation to comply.* (p. 123) But if we look back, it was chance occurrences that led to most of our most precious moments. 6. Focusing on ‘using’ time well can delay ‘real’ life to some unreachable future time. But being in the present allows for real fulfillment. 7. Being present in the moment is just another version of number 6. The focus is on making best use of the present time and that can make it hard to have the actual experience. Notice that you’re always in the moment anyway, whether you want to be or not. It’s the only place you can be! 8. Reality cannot be forced to move faster. Rather than being anxious about this, be proud of endurance. 9. We’re not in control. If we relax, a solution to a problem will emerge. 10. A problem-free life doesn’t exist and would be a meaningless life if it did. Since we’ll never be problem-free, we don’t need to rush to solve every problem. 11. What we do with our life doesn’t matter all that much; *the universe absolutely could not care less.* (p.208) A lot of what we’re already doing is more meaningful than we think. [[Self-Acceptance is Related to Surrender]] 12. Since we can’t separate ourselves from the moments we live, we actually **are** time. *There’s no scrambling up to the safety of the riverbank when the river is you. And so insecurity and vulnerability are the default state.* (p. 217) Accepting this means getting to live life now, not imagining it as sometime in the future. > [!user] Source > From a reread of Oliver Burkeman’s *Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals*, 2021