Our thoughts are constricted and limited by the normalization and conventions of the society around us.
We are born and the influences of our parents, school, media and all of our social environment imposes, induces and conditions a perception of reality into us. We have 18 years or so, of directly and purposefully being influenced and conditioned into what to think and do. We don't always think for ourselves, or think about whether these perceptions are authentic reality or inauthentic unreality. Our freedom of action depends upon our freedom of thought, and we are currently not paying into nor spending much time on quality and deeper thinking.
Time is symbolic of a "currency" or "energy" we spend and pay into with the attention of our consciousness. Our thoughts are being channeled, like a current of energy or water that flows into certain aspects of society. Most people are busy working to survive and then engaging in pleasure gratification and enjoyment in between to counter or escape the stress or boredom in our lives.
Where is the limited time in life dedicated to thinking and improving our quality and capacity of thought? To think about how we function as consciousness psyches? To think about how thought and knowledge function? To think about existence where we gain knowledge? To think and understand how to learn about these things?
Overall, we are mostly not thinking about these things because of the time, effort and energy involved. It's much easier to continue doing what we do, and not think. It's much more fun to have fun and gain pleasure from doing other things than thinking about these deeper subjects.
We prefer to think about the same things, talk about the same things, feel the same things, and do the same things. As a result, not much changes overall. We are stuck in a hamster wheel that we are not escaping from. Most don't even know they are in a hamster wheel keeping them going around in circles generation after generation.
How much time do you think there is in life?
How much of that time do you have to choose to spend on thinking more deeply about matters of existence, consciousness and morality? How much of that time do you actually spend on thinking more deeply?
Sleep
Let's assume a generous 80 year average lifespan to make things easy and give more time.
Given that we sleep on average 8 hours a day, this leaves 16 hours each day. If you assume an 80 year average lifespan for most of the western world we are talking about, that means 8 hours per 24h each day, for 7 days a week, and 52 weeks a year. 8 x 7 x 52 = 2912 hours per year, and 2192 x 80 = 232,960 hours or 26.6 years of sleeping in your life. This leaves 80y - 26.6y = 53.3 years left.
Work
We need to pay for shelter, clothing, food and other things, meaning we need to work in some form of business. Assuming an average of 8 hours working, and two hours of travel to and from work, you have 10 hours of time spent on for survival each 5 or 7 days, for the ages 18 to 65 (65 - 18 = 47 years of time for work as economic survivability). 10 x 5 x 52 x 47 = 122,200, which is 14 years of work. 53.3 - 14 = 39.3 years left.
Food
You also have to feed yourself each day. There is breakfast, lunch and supper that needs preparation, as well as any other meals you have to prepare and then take time to eat. Assuming an average of 2.5 hours for all of it for 80 years, means 2.5 x 7 x 52 x 80 = 72,800 hour or 8.3 years of food related time tasks. 39.3 - 8.3 = 31 years left in life. Yes much of your youth has food preparation done for you, but you still spent time eating, and for the sake of this argument, you aren't going to be using your time to think deeply in your immature youth.
School
For our youth, the time spent in school is about 8 hours for 18 years (pre-K children are busy not thinking much anyways), so 8 x 5 x 52 x 18 = 4 years about. 31 - 4 = 27 years left.
What do we do with that 27 years of life left? What do most people do? What are the main activities that consume time?
Watching television. Watching movies. Watching the news. Playing video games. Playing board games. Reading newspapers, magazines and books on fiction and non-fiction on whatever subject. Playing sports. Spending time with family. Going to events like concerts, festivals, etc. And more. There is also the time required to process basic input and information about daily life, planning our future, what we are going to do, etc. For most people, this is what the 27 years are spent doing.
Honestly think about it. How much of those 27 years left do most of us actually spend contemplating and reflecting upon aspects of truth in reality? Are we even interested in learning more? Are we interested in thinking more? Even if we are, how accurate is our ability to think? Are we learning how thinking and consciousness functions? Are we learning about fallacies and cognitive and emotional biases? Are we learning how to think better? Are we learning how to learn better? Are we learning about philosophy and psychology? Do we understand the difference between belief and truth?
Some people don't spend much time on these aspects of reflecting upon reality, and some spend much more time doing so. Looking around, you can see how most people spend their time. Much of our thinking is being channeled and directed like a current of energy, away from deeper thought and contemplation about ourselves and reality.
We are increasingly dependent on the media to tell us what to think, how to think, and how to act as a result. We don't look into reality with questions, doubt and curiosity to try to find answers ourselves, or to verify the answers others provide for us. Some of us are uncomfortable with not having an answer, with not knowing, with the unknown, and invent beliefs as answers and believe they are "truth".
There are many manipulators who know how consciousness, thought, emotion and behavior can be affected, influenced and induced with ideas and beliefs to channel and direct our time, energy, attention and actions in life along predetermined pathways. If we don't how how we function, to know thyself, and how we can be manipulated, then chances are we are being manipulated.
Truth takes time. If we don't invest our currency wisely (into what we pay attention to and spend time on) then the profits of truth will not bear much fruit. We must learn to learn and learn to think more effectively so that we can better educate and raise ourselves out of various levels of ignorance about our reality. Thinking is like a tool or muscle. Thinking requires development and training in order to be used in a greater capacity and quality.
Time and quality thinking are required to improve the condition and quality of our individual lives, and the lives of everyone acting together to create the way of life we lead.
Life isn't all about seeking pleasure and having fun, especially at the expense of truly improving our lives towards greater morality, freedom and peace. There is work to be done here that can be uncomfortable, laborious and full of hardship and tribulations. Pleasure and enjoyment are part of life, not the focus or goal. When we focus on pleasure and enjoyment, it's all about our personal selves and our "feel-good" lower consciousness desires for sensual gratification. That's a life of being all about "me, me, me and how good I can feel" while higher purposes in life are secondary or even ignored. Higher consciousness living requires care for truth and learning about important aspects of reality like consciousness and morality. Learn to discern. If we spend time and pay attention on pleasure and enjoyment, that's what will increase, and not our capacity for quality deeper thinking to resolve our collective condition.
Take personal responsibility for the way of life we are currently creating on this planet, see it for what it is, and learn more about it in order to empower ourselves to change it. It all starts at the individual level, and that is in consciousness. Evolve consciousness.
Time is limited in life. Eventually it burns out like a candle and the last grain falls through the hour glass. Use time and thinking wisely to make real, lasting, effective change in all of our lives. Thought is "Thoth the Great Magician" that has the power to create into existence by affecting, influencing and altering actions and behavior. The changes we want to create in the world depend on us making them. The change starts by enhancing our capabilities of consciousness.
Thank you for reading! I appreciate the knowledge reaching more people. Take care. Peace.
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Author: Kris Nelson / @krnel
Contact: steemit.quality@gmail.com
Date: 2016-09-13