by Ingrid Prohaska
I had these time-problems for years.
Every day I had a lot of things to do, even on weekends I had to manage meetings with friends and family, to manage attendances to events and happenings, and had to work up the things I couldn't do during the week.
I tried this time-management, I created to-do-lists; I gave every thing I had to do a date and fixed how long it should take me to do it; I put the things in order of importance; I created a list of near, middle-distanced and far goals.
I really tried hard to organize my time and so my watch became the most important tool in my life.
But years passed by and I had to notice that I wasn’t able to reach my goals. I felt impatient and under pressure. I couldn’t say that my situation was going to be better. I felt sick; I had problems with my health.
I went to a doctor. He advised me to reduce stress, to eat regularly and enough, to do sports, perhaps to attend a course to learn some meditation, to find a hobby which was able to relax me.
So, I had this to-do-list of things that should bring me down. But – I wasn’t able to say “No” to me boss, and that made it impossible to eat regularly and enough, and I couldn’t become friend with doing sports, and I had no time to attend a course to learn some meditation, and no idea what kind of hobby was able to relax me. And so my state of health became worse.
One day my watch stopped working and stood still. And because I really needed my watch I went into the next watch-maker’s-shop. An old man asked me what he could do for me. I gave him my watch and explained that this situation had emergent character; - I really wasn’t able to live without my watch.
This man was so calm and moved so slowly that I really had doubts if he could understand the importance of a working watch. I really had troubles not to become nervous and impatient with him. But he - still calm - smiled at me, promised to have a look at my watch, took my watch and went into the backroom.
And for me started the worst thing that I could imagine. Waiting. Waiting that my watch got ready. I couldn’t stand waiting even for a few minutes. It always caused the feeling of losing time.
So, while I was waiting I looked around in his shop. And with displeasure I noticed that every clock in his shop showed another time. A feeling that I could have done a mistake to give him my watch arose. I really thought about taking my watch away from this man and leaving this shop immediately.
In that moment he came back.
“Your watch is working again,” he said still smiling, “Shall I give it the right time?” he asked politely.
“Of course!” I answered impatiently, wondering what time he would give my watch. “And by the way,” I continued grinning at him superiorly, “all your clocks work wrong! Every one has a different time.” After my last word I felt sorry about my remark, just because I thought listening to his answer would be just more wasted time.
“The times are right,” he said still calm, “These are all repaired watches just waiting for their owners.”
“I don’t understand,” I answered - suddenly somehow interested in his explanations.
“It is very simple,” he told me, “Every human has his own feeling of time. These are internal clocks. When they are working as they should, their owners live calm.” and continued, “Clocks often get worried because their owners think they work wrong and they try to repair them by one’s own hand. But one day their watches stop working and then they come to me. I give the watches the right speed and the right time again and their owners feel better. Try to feel your internal watch, try to live according to it, and time-problems will disappear.”
He finished his work, and – believe me or not - my troubles were gone as soon as I had back my repaired watch.
Copyright © 2007, 2011 Ingrid Prohaska
_
