Too fast to think: seconds that can't be taken back from the Constant Now
You just reacted to something—a message, a movement, an alarm. Was it helpful? Harmful? Neutral? This is where change begins or patterns repeat.
We were saying that what I call the Constant Now (vs. the spiritual Eternal Now) is very intense and imposing sometimes. Everybody has external situations, events, people or systems in their personal, professional, business or investing lives that demand attention.
And that by the time we get to those next few seconds of life, wherever we are in the world, at whatever stage of life, in whatever culture, our reaction is mostly automated, whether it be the next fight with your spouse or your political outrage over whatever stupidity the government in your country has just announced.
Whatever mental models you already have in the bag when you meet those new moments of external reality and challenge is what you are going to respond with.
Your childhood, education, traumas, career, marriage, political identity likely all evolved over some version of years. You are probably not going to ditch those influences—which your ego considers to be you anyway—in a few seconds, minutes, days or weeks because some external situation changes, and especially not if those experiences and elements have brought you a relative degree of success in life.
Before we come back to this place in a few posts time—because this moment, the seconds of the constant now, is where the possibility of change or different paths might open up—let us continue with the pre-programmed reactions and consequences for a while to see where that leads us.
Remember you just got to the here and now with certain long-term baggage and a certain arrival state and a certain energy state. Either they were adequate for what just happened or not.
Did the cop running down the dark alleyway after a chase in the car just pull his gun out of its holster and point it at the guy in the hoodie? Does he still have a second or two before he pulls the trigger? Another second or two to breathe? Or is the guy in the hoodie now already lying dead on the pavement?
Did the pilot in the dark cockpit, after noting the sudden unexpected change in flight conditions and being startled by a blaring alarm, pull back on the stick when he should have pushed down, pushing the plane towards a catastrophic stall? Or did he manage to do nothing and the passengers can sleep soundly for the rest of the flight?
Did the doctor or the nurse in ER or the ICU, after ten days of alternating night and day shifts at two different hospitals somewhere in the world, identify the right tube coming into or leading out of a patient and pump in the right dosage of the right drug? Or did they, in their exhaustion and confusion, just push milk into a baby’s blood line (actual case someone told me about this week)?
At home, have you just reacted to your husband or wife’s latest WhatsApp suggestion with the usual contempt or derision, triggering the next fight in a long line of arguments, that you know is going to get much more intense and emotional before it stops for another few days? Or did you manage to say something nice for a change and you are both now thinking of a fun trip next weekend?
You were just challenged by some micro-but-relevant life event that registered in your system, that got through to your attention and energy, and you reacted in some way.
Are you better off now than you were a few seconds ago, before the new event? Did you handle it okay-ish or did you just mess up? Have you already won or do you feel like you just lost a few points in the game of life?
Did it cause any physical reaction in you while you reacted? Did you jump, vomit, scream, shout, freeze, cower? What did your physical energy just do?
Did your reaction feel especially controlled or normal or have you just surprised or shocked yourself with your own reaction?
Did you just repeat a standard or habitual pattern or an addiction response?
What has that event that you just reacted to, that for a few seconds became the most salient, relevant and urgent thing in your life situation to deal with, now caused you to not pay attention to?
And is not paying attention to that other important thing now already about to cause you another problem as you, say, drive along the highway in your car at 140 km/h, or look after three sreaming kids, or more bad guys turn up at the police situation, or more alarms start going off in the cockpit of the plane?
Also, what just happened to your energy state? If you were feeling positive about life 30 seconds ago, are you still feeling good or do you know something just went wrong? If you were feeling terrible 30 seconds ago, maybe the thing that just happened cheered you up.
Are you counting your little reaction just now as a victory or a defeat? Did you just win a few points or lose a few points? Move forwards or get pushed back by life?
Who saw it or heard it? You just physically reacted in the world. Did your kids just see you snap angrily and swear at your spouse? Did your copilot just see you flip the wrong switch or move the control stick the wrong way? Is your partner standing next to you with his gun out too, waiting for the guy in the hoodie to drop his weapon, or is he already radioing for an ambulance to come and pick up the dead body?
Your reactions broadcast to those around you and affect their lives and loops too. So even if you still feel pumped or positive about how you just reacted, for example, how would you rate the outcome for the whole little situation and group you have going on there? Positive or negative?
Tomorrow we can talk about accumulation and directionality. This is just the last 10 or 20 or 30 seconds of your life, after some new little relevant moment.
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Makes me think... If the present is always this reactive, maybe curiosity itself is the only way to break the loop because it interrupts the script, even if just for a second