Time and the Olympian task

I am reminded of time by the Olympic games taking place at the moment. I am not particularly keen on sport and do not like competition therefore I am being unpatriotic and not watching the events. I am however reminded of how timing is everything in our lives.
When we consider it, none of us knows how much time we have. This is what makes life so precious. If only we would take just a moment each day to contemplate this fact perhaps we would do our best to be our best even in the most mundane of situations. It is in the living each day as if it is our last that we really savour every moment.
Moments are indeed precious. It is afterall that 1/1000th of a second that determines the difference between gold, silver, bronze or no medal at all. It is in that 1/1000th of a second that either 'good' or 'bad' news hits us and can completely change our life course, determining all our future decisions, perspectives and sense of well being.
Time itself however, is elastic. Consider sitting in a waiting room for the dentist or doctor, or as many of us have done as a parent, whilst our child undergoes an operation. At this point time is indeterminate and stretches into eternity. Alternatively the flash before our eyes of an incident such as observing an accident leaves us wondering how so much could have occurred in such a brief moment. Trying to recall actual details of such an event become impossible as it just did not register.
Our sense of time can be altered by meditation and hypnotherapy. In theory the registration or processing of moments in our brain slows, altering our perception of time. We enter a theta level brain wave pattern. Drugs, medical or recreational, can also have this effect. We are therefore reliant upon our neuronal processing for our sense of timing and upon our ability to process and retain events. Memory is a fundamental part of how we interpret our time and whether it has been well spent.
Spending our time well often seems like an Olympian task when we are faced with diffculties or stiff competition. In cooperative sharing and caring we obtain help along the way and achieve far more as a collective than is possible alone. When we are joyful and free to follow our dreams there are still responsibilities and rigorous training to get to our destination as the Olympiads know only too well. However it doesn't stop them from going for gold, striving to be the best and sacrificing for their team mates. May we all learn something from this even in the mundane!

For a personal view on the Olympic Opening Ceremony from a good friend of mine who was present go to
http://blog.visceralbusiness.com/olympicsandimpacts