"The past and the future were invented by man to compensate for the invention of the calendar and the clock" Don Calarco

Although Albert Einstein received critical acclaim for his theory of time relativity, it seems that the concept itself has gone by way of bell bottom trousers and paisley shirts.Oh, there are still a few people who believe that he was a genius, but when you look around, all you find is contradictory evidence that the world has not accepted this once marvelous theory. Al believed that time was relative or constant. This meant that time did not move or "tick" away. It existed as a stationery concept and we moved through it.Time has always fascinated me. I've tried to accept Mr. Einstein's theory and to live my life by going through time rather than having time go through my life, but it is very hard to do.

Time has become so important to everyone on this planet. You can't go through a day without encountering some form of man's interpretation of time.When we have to use the computer in the office, we sign in for our share of access time. Corporations spend millions of dollars on advertising time and air time on radio and TV. We can't leave the city on public transportation without understanding arrival and departure times. One of the first experiences we have with time is bedtime. We get our first job and right away we want to know about break time.If we are not looking at the time and we are working very hard, we may even get paid for overtime.

We live in Central Standard Time and our friends live in Eastern Standard Time, which always confused me. Are we living in different times or different time zones, and if so, what's the difference? If I go to visit them and stay in a hotel, I have to be out by checkout time. If we go shopping, we have to leave the store before closing time. If we're caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, we may be found guilty of a crime and we will have to do time. Even when we were very young and under the guiding care of professional school teachers we were taught about clean-up time.

You remember that neat little classroom activity that we always seemed to have enough time for.If you plan to study music, you will surely learn common time (4/4 time). You can't be an actor unless you understand curtain time. And of course there is daylight saving time. I never knew what we were saving it for. But I'm sure it's a good cause.I have rarely missed dinner time. In fact if I'm late for dinner, I move at double time. Dream time has always been one of my favorites. Even though there is absolutely no semblance of time in a dream, unless you are dreaming of clocks.

There is elapsed time, equal time, estimated time of arrival, estimated time of death, feeding time at the zoo, finishing time, flex time, free time, game time, Greenwich mean time, half time and hard times.Farmers have harvest time. Cowboys shoot it out at high noon which is considered a time. All of us have had something happen at an inopportune time.

We often have a lack of time and always try to have enough lead time to meet the time line or we will be working so hard we will never have any leisure time in our lifetime.Can you imaging having lost time? You will never find it, except that there is a new word called recovered time, which is not to be confused with extra time.

We have mealtime, Mountain Standard Time ( for those friends in another time zone) and nap time. There is the past, the present and the future time to be concerned with. But it shouldn't interfere with our playtime.Just a few more to go to prove a point! You aren't going anywhere. This is your reading time. We have post time, prime time, psychological moments in time, qualifying time, quality time, quick time, which is like accelerated time, but no one really knows what that means either.There's quiet time and quitting time. There's even ragtime.

Computer people refer to elapsed time as real time. Is there an unreal time? You've heard of response time, show time, snack time, solar time and spare time which is sort of like extra time. We have enjoyed springtime and summer time. We have listened quietly during story time, and we have marched around the kindergarten class, singing songs to three-quarter time.We have allotted time and have earned time and a half. Sailors have spent time at sea.

We will all have a time of birth and a time of death. And before death comes, I hope to have some time off for good behavior. Football players have time of possession, and there's a few people who have time on their hands. Most sports events have specific time periods, with only so much time remaining.There are spans of time and even a special time to feed the baby. Some people need time to think. And I think that we covered at least half of the references to time. Before we go into a time warp, we should get on with our point without to much waste of time.

One of the more enchanting concepts I have ever thought about came a bit later in my life. I guess some things have to wait until they are ready for you to understand them. In a way, we have to pass through time before we are ready to accept a theory or find room for it in our thoughts.Some ideas become so very clear after they have aged properly. Then, just when you really understand it, you graciously pass it on to your children and it falls on deaf ears. In time, it will all be clear.Did you ever wonder why your parents often said..."When I was a kid.....(followed by a phrase or two of wisdom, criticism or just common sense)?I wondered about it a lot. In fact, for a while I thought that my father never had a thought that had anything to do with the present. It seemed that everything that I was doing or trying or dreaming was interrupted by a story about how it was when he was my age.

My father walked to school, in the snow, barefooted, uphill....both ways! He had a job when he was two years old and he saved at least 10% of every dollar he ever earned just in case it rained. It rained often when we were young. But the stories and the wisdom never stopped.Some of the more familiar responses are as common today as they were then. "That's when you were young, Dad. Times have changed!" "When you were a teenager, you didn't need a car, but now everything is so far apart....!" "The phone didn't ring a thousand times a day when you were a kid because you didn't have a phone!" "You listen to your music and I'll listen to mine."None of this really begins to make any sense until you find yourself standing in your fathers shoes, saying the same things to your son. In fact it hits you with such realization that it all becomes so clear."Oh! that's what my father meant, then." If you are truly lucky, you may have an opportunity for a quiet moment to let your father know that you understand. And if he smiles gently, you must know that you have passed through another path in time.

If time has passed and he is no longer with you, acknowledge his wisdom to the thoughts of him that you keep stored in your mind. You will feel the same grateful nod.Time is something that I think about a lot. Not time as minutes or hours or even days. I think of time the way Einstein thought of time (except the world is not beating down my door looking for answers). I see time as an infinite path that we travel along.

The path that we have passed is behind us and the path, yet to be traveled is before us. That's all pretty simple, but where are we right now. RIGHT NOW!Let's assume that you agree that everything that has ever happened in your life, up to this moment, is stored in your mind in the form of thoughts or memories.

Let's call this the past. It is pure history or pure memory, experience, nostalgia, remembrance and recollection. We can't get it back. As it happens it is immediately stored as thoughts.Are we in agreement so far?. Now let's imagine that everything that will ever happen in your life from this moment on is also stored in your mind as thoughts.

Let's call this the future. It is pure imagination, pure planning, creativity, inspiration, expectations, whimsy and dreams.What do we have left?We have now! But how long is now? Where is now? When is now? It all happens so quickly. Now turns into thought and becomes memory almost as fast as it happens. That last paragraph is already in our past. That's pretty quick. What's happened to "now"? Why can't I seem to stay in now? It turns into the past almost instantaneously. I can't touch it. I can't feel it. I can't even think about it. As soon as I do, it turns into the past.

Let's look at it on the chart below:

(A) (C) (B) Past experiences NOW Future expectations :

Everything that's happened already is called past (A) Everything that's going to happen is called future (B) Now (C) is only a fine thread between these two concepts of time. Here's one of those questions that used to get me in so much trouble. It's one of those special IF/THEN questions: If everything that has ever happened is just thought... and everything that is going to happen is also thought... and "now" is an unmeasurable thread of time... then there is actually no such thing as "now"... or..."now" is all there is and time does not exist at all. (Einstein would have loved this one)

NOTE: Let's take a break from this madness for a comment from the author.... It's not that any of this really matters. In fact, it probably doesn't! But to me, this is the greatest form of mental exercise I have ever found. It's as good as weight lifting or aerobics is for the body. You don't have to try to solve any of these mysteries. Contemplating them is all the exercise you'll ever need. If Sister Antonelda only knew how deep I really was, I think she would have appreciated me more. An exercised mind is a healthy mind!

Let's continue:Dr. Wayne Dyer, one of the truly great living philosophers and the most inspiring speaker I have ever encountered, would suggest that all you really have in this life is "now", and that we are all comprised of pure thought. Living in the now means living and experiencing only through our thoughts.According to Dr. Dyer, living in the now is one of the most rewarding steps toward enlightenment. And he is right! Living in the "now" has changed my adult life.I can remember how difficult is was for me to go out of my way to merely stop for a cup of coffee. ( it was called smelling the roses at one time ) I wouldn't even cross the street for food, even if I was hungry. I never went out of my way for enjoyment. I had no concept of "now".

Everything in my life felt like it was in motion.I was always searching and moving toward the future, the striving, the searching, the climbing. I never knew what "now" was. I was always either on my way to something or from something.Most of us live in the past or the future. Living in the now is very unnatural to human beings, until we learn how powerful it can be.It seems we must all have something to look "forward" to. Or, we are so caught up in the past and what has happened to our lives we try to live in a constant rewind of the past.Worry is a perfect example of not living in the now.

Worry can only happen if we are thinking about what has happened yesterday or what will happen tomorrow.If we live in the now it is impossible to worry. Dr. Dyer's concept is wonderful, and well worth following. But the good doctor also agrees that there is no such thing as right and wrong. So let's take a look at another approach.What if Einstein was here to debate Dyer? Albert would state that there is no past, no future and no now. He would go on to say that these are only words that we have created to confuse ourselves into thinking that time is something of greater importance that life itself, and it is not!I have been plagued by these questions for so long that I have adopted both answers as the right answers. Depending on my perspective in any given situation, I will either follow Dyer or my friend Albert.I could defend Dr. Dyer and his concept of living in the "now". It has brought me such peace and calm. It is always "now"! You can not live tomorrow. Tomorrow never, ever comes. Think about that! When you go to sleep and wake up the next day it is NOW.

Tomorrow will always be there, but you can not be there. If you spend your life searching for tomorrow, it will never come. There is only now!I cherish yesterday. I love the past. I have great memories about the days that have brought me joy. I love to reminisce with my friends. This is a healthy, social activity. I love to dream about days gone by. I enjoy reliving some of the better moments of my life. This is entertainment and it's all great fun. But when I wake up, I live in Now.I love to plan for the future. Planning is important. It sets goals and objectives for us to work toward. But once the plan is set and the goal is identified, we must live each now that is presented on the way toward the goal.I'm not just living in a haze. I'm not oblivious to what's going on around me. In fact, I am more aware than ever. My concentration is sharper, my attention span is stronger. I am more conscious of what is happening in my life now than I have ever been. All this comes from my understanding that "Now" is the best time of my life. "Now" is the only time of my life.Yesterday is a fond memory to look back on once in a while. Tomorrow is filled with dreams. (or are my dreams are filled with tomorrow?) It is the part of the song that I haven't heard yet; a part of the movie that I haven't seen yet. I can plan and I can have expectations, but I can't be there until it is now.These are the good old days. Right now!

I could also defend Dr. Einstein's theory, for it too has had a profound effect on my life.Time is relative. To misquote Einstein....."Time does not move. Time is relative. It actually remains still, while we move through it." Time does not pass. We pass through time.There really is no past, present and future. We have created that concept to compensate for the invention of the clock and the calendar, but think of how different our lives would be without all of the references to time. (we won't list them again, thank you)I often believe that when we look into the eyes of our children we can see our past. Of all the changes that the human body goes through, the eyes never change. Through them we can see wonders. We see all of the things that we were. We see all of the mistakes that we have made.

We also see all of the opportunities that we may have missed. It is for this reason that we are driven to guide and direct the lives of those younger than ourselves. We are acting out of two internal emotions.The first is a fantasy of rewinding our lives to redirect the path that we traveled. To perhaps make one or two slight changes in the outcome of the game. To take that test again. Only this time with a much wiser mind. To say no when we once said yes, or to choose the brighter path.How simple it would be if we had a rewind for life, and a fast forward for tomorrow. But seriously, it is not until we find ourselves saying and doing the very same things that our parents or guardians did to and for us, that we realize that we are attempting a rewind of our lives to protect or guide our children.The second emotion is much stronger.

Instead of a desire to rewind and relive our own lives, it is to guide our children to those paths that we did choose correctly. It is for a much more confident reason. We have been there, in our past. We came to the fork in the road and we went down the right path. We enjoyed every moment of it. We tasted the sweetness of tropical fruit. We passed the test. We drew the right straw. We were safe, and we want them to be just as safe.Now let's look at it from the other side of the mirror. Did you ever have that strange feeling, when looking into the eyes of a very, very old person, that he has seen so much more than you have. Depending on how old you are, you may not give him the credit for the wisdom he possesses.

The experience may be no different than a seventeen year old addressing a forty year old parent. At the time the teenager believes that the parent just isn't "with it". Sooner or later he learns the truth. I'm sure, at least once in your life, you have received a call from an old friend that you haven't heard from in a very long time, and they greet you with..."Hi, this is a voice from your past!" After a few guesses you generally figure out who it is and the memories begin to flow.Did you ever stop and think about that? You know that I have!Is it really someone from your past? I believe it is. It's a pretty simple concept. Well that's the start of understanding what old Albert had in mind when he wrote his theory on time relativity.If someone can visit from the past, can we visit the future?Darn it!

That's why no one ever followed Einstein. He couldn't prove that the past the present and the future were all constant at one time, so they canned it along with high top shoes, Zoot suits and parasols.If someone can come to you from your past and be in your present, then I believe that we can visit someone's future and I have proven it. If for no other reason than to satisfy the memory of Dr. Albert Einstein.One evening, I was accompanying a very dear friend of mine, Ben Leonard, for a visit to his eighty-four year old grandfather, who had been in a nursing home for just under a year.

When we arrived, the nurses had explained that he had been crying for a few days and was not doing very well. As we entered his room we found two orderlies lifting him from his bed, onto a wheel chair. They secured him with a safety belt, which they explained was to keep him from falling out of the chair. All but one thing was changed on this man whom I hadn't seen in almost two years. He was much thinner. He had lost his grin. His quickness had left him, and his wit was no longer his strong suit. He had aged. But, one thing I found had not changed, at least to me. His eyes were the same eyes I had always seen. A bit drowsier, perhaps. Certainly tired and weary. But they were the same.We began to reminisce with him.

He was very depressed and afraid of the strange surroundings, but we were determined to enjoy our visit, as he was always a gracious host. He was a man filled with life, song and sincerity. Now he had aged and he was no longer accepting his life as it was. He was not singing. He was frightened. It was obvious that he found it difficult to accept the aging process.In a matter of thirty minutes, we had him remembering some of the good times he had in earlier years. He would cry occasionally, as he felt time closing in on him. It was the most opportune time to share the theory of the good doctor Al.Grandpa had physically changed.

He was weaker, thinner and unable to move around unassisted, but he still had his memory and the capacity of his brain. We talked for nearly two hours. It was one of the most enjoyable times I have ever had.We discussed the concept of past, present and future. "Am I going to die", he asked. "Yes, you are", we answered truthfully. "But so am I and he and everyone." We asked him what he thought about. After all, here was a man with over eighty-four years of life's memories in his mind, with the capacity to remember."I see my whole life", he cried.

"And I am afraid because it will never be the same again." "I see when I was young and strong, and I want to be there again, and I can't."During our discussion, of almost three hours, grandpa was able to grasp the true concept of time. We explained that although it was true that he had an older body than he once had, his entire life was still intact deep within his mind.

Grandpa explained that the crying that the nurses had heard, and that we had witnessed was happening uncontrolled, much like a nervous twitch. It had frightened him, causing him to become depressed and withdrawn.He sat attentively as I explained...."Inside your brain, inside your mind is your entire life. Everything that has ever happened to you is not gone. It is stored safely in your mind.You have the ability to relive any part of your life in the form of memories. These memories can be as real as you want them to be.

If you begin to cry, remember that it is only the baby in you. If you laugh, it is your youth playing a joke. If you feel love it is your warmest thoughts of those closest to you. If you want to sing, it is the good old days remembered. And if you feel old and tired, go to sleep, because you are old and tired.The most important thing to remember is that not only is your mind filled with your entire life, but all of the minds that you have ever touched; mine, Ben's, all of your children all of your family, all of your friends.

Everyone who has ever known you has "you" in their minds. You will be there forever. For eternity. As thoughts, you will never, ever die.You can have any time that you want to have, because time does not pass. Bodies get older, they age and they die. But, time does not pass. We pass through time, and as we do we collect memories and we give memories to others. There must be a reason for this, and I believe you have come to the point where you can leisurely stroll through those memories and enjoy them as much as you did when you were experiencing them for the first time.A thought can never die. A body can. It is only gristle, blood and bone, but a thought is all that we are.

It is our spirit and it can never die."He looked at us with a deliberate smile and said, "nice words, thank you!" He got it! And it was one of the most exciting conversations I have ever had, because it proved for me what I had believed for so long.Time stands still. As we experience life, we gather thoughts.

Thoughts of our first sights and sounds are still recorded deep in our minds. Our parents are in our thoughts. Everything that has ever happened to us in our thoughts. We only gather these thoughts as we travel through time.Ben and Grandpa verified the most important piece of the puzzle in one minute's worth of conversation. Ben was remembering how vibrant grandpa was when he was sixty.

He was reminiscing a particular event to me as grandpa turned and glanced toward his grandson, who had turned forty-three, just a month ago and while Ben was still talking he mumbled, "I can see him when he was born, and when he was in school, when he was married and when his two sons were born, it scares me, but I can see it clearly." I was listening to two conversations at one time. Grandpa was frightened because he had heard that your whole life is supposed to pass before your eyes just before you die...what he just learned is that he was merely retrieving memories of a wonderfully full and joyous life and that he will never ever really "die".

The old man had verified for me that his life of eighty-four years also contained the memory of Ben's life and Ben's two son's lives. Ben confirmed that his memories contained all of the memories of his grandfather, from as far back as he can remember. They had confirmed that we are living in our children's future and we are living in our parents past.I turned to Ben, as we left the nursing home. I wasn't sure if he had as much fun as I did. "Ben," I said, "for one minute or two, you were looking at your future, as grandpa was looking at his past. Did you feel it?" I knew that he did. I'm just glad I was a witness. Albert would have been proud!

The next time you meet a total stranger, try telling him that you are from his future. Tell him that you know it's hard to believe, but you are sincerely from his future. If you never see him again, but he remembers your brief encounter, then you will forever be part of his future, if only in his thoughts and memory. If he becomes your friend and you begin to see him regularly, then you will still be part of his future. One way or the other, you can be in someone's past and you can go to someone's future. Albert was right.Think about it! I did!

To continue, go to Chapter Seven or return to CONTENTS PAGE