From Essential Rumi

According to some belief systems we get many lives here on this earth. The problem I find, even if I were to believe this myself, is that we don’t necessarily recall the nuances of those many lives in the present one. And most likely we won’t recall the nuances of this present life in any future ones.

What we have is now. Right. Now. And I for one want to live this life as if it’s my only one. Which is why I’ve been experimenting – with time no less.

Now I don’t have any hard and fast statistics on this but I am certain a large percentage of the population in the world uses alarm clocks.  In today’s digital smart phone world, we carry our alarm clock with us. And we use them, religiously.

I contend that 1) we have external commitments and obligations for which we unnaturally force ourselves awake before our body has time to fully rejuvenate and 2) our internal body clock is completely trustworthy when we choose to trust it and live our reason why.

The little experiment I did recently proves to me anyway that alarm clocks only need to exist for specific situations. They are not necessary for daily use.

You will have to prove it for yourself, if you so choose.

First a little background though.

When I worked a regular job I used an alarm clock, like most people do. And it felt as though every time it went off, I’d only just fallen asleep. But it did it’s job. I was awake.

Then one summer during my first year in college a friend and I agreed to start lifting weights together. The only time convenient for both of us was 5:30 AM. The first thought was oh man what are we doing, lifting weights at that time of morning. He agreed it was an odd time, but we were both pretty scrawny and felt the need to bulk up.

The first weeks were tough, but we did them. Then we got into a schedule and I found myself waking up minutes before the alarm went off. I found myself awake, getting out of the bed enthused, excited even because I was doing something I enjoyed. I was calling the shots.

That lasted until the fall, when both our schedules changed. Now instead of getting up to go lift weights, I was getting up to go the class, then work and finally at the end of the day, if it wasn’t too late, we’d lift weights.

It became difficult to get out of the bed in the mornings. I blamed it on the change in seasons, the weight lifting in the evenings and everything else. Yet it was really the change in motivations and in my reasons why.

Before long this morning grogginess, alarm clock hatred became a conditioned expectation. I expected the alarm clock to go off. I expected my response to the alarm to be grumpy and groggy. I expected to get up and need coffee to get me going. And for the most part, that’s what 90% of the world does.

Whether we are or aren’t morning people, we have effectively conformed to  time constraints set by someone else and external forces.

So what does this have to do with a time experiment?

What I realized then but didn’t have the wisdom or knowledge to act on at the time, is that the motivation necessary to wake up naturally had to be mine.

This is my life. If I want it to be what I want it to be and if experimenting with  time will help me find out what that is, am I willing to experiment?

Once I decided, yes I want my THRiViNG Life, things just seem to happen.

First I attended a four day conference. I shared a room with someone who got up every morning just before 6:00 AM.

While she was considerate by not turning on lights or blasting loud music, I still woke up slightly.

The first day I turned over and slept for another hour. The second and third days I only slept another 30 minutes.

The fourth day I got up within 15 minutes.

None of this was intentional yetsomething was changing.

Then later on the fourth day, I talked with someone who was considering getting up at 6:30 for a week to 10 days to see if she could get more done and she was looking for an accountability partner.

For 10 days she and I spoke for a few minutes each morning via phone.

She decided it wasn’t for her but I noticed something entirely different for myself. I was waking up again before the alarm clock went off, although I wasn’t getting up.

I decided to stay with the plan and get up at 6:30 AM for the entire month of February.

The original experiment had been about getting more done, yet I was finding the natural awakening much more fascinating, even though I didn’t actually get out of the bed.

The original experiment lasted a month and was mostly a success for me. And it led me back to the Rumi poem above and now I’m enthused and excited to hear the secrets on the breeze.

Now the question is, “Do the reasons why and the motivations help us remove the conditioning?”

I’m just starting Phase II and will keep you informed.

What about you? Have you experimented with time before? What is/was your experience?