Life by the Slice
Biting off more than you can chew can be messy and embarrassing and certainly takes some of the joy out of eating. There is one built-in limit that partially protects us from taking a bite too big: we can only open our mouths so wide. I wouldn’t advise letting that be your only guide, but for the sake of children everywhere I’m glad we at least have that. And, since almost all of us have learned the lesson early in life we should feel free to apply it wherever it may be helpful… figuratively, I mean.
How big is the slice of life you are working on?
Is it too much to experience all at once?
Unfortunately, we don’t have the built-in safe guard when it comes to determining the size of the slice of life we should experience. One function of our brain that may be uniquely human is that of thinking out as far as we want into the future. We can grab decades at a time if we want. That would be a very thick slice, too much to digest. And, it certainly can take the joy out of living. Even though we are built to imagine the future, we are also designed to experience or feel a much smaller slice. Yes, planning is important. Considering the consequences of our actions is important. I’m not trying to talk anyone into a live-for-the-moment philosophy. But, remember that the same person who said, “Who would consider the construction of a building without first calculating the cost?” also said “Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
We think about cost estimating a tower but we experience trouble. We feel anxiety. Choosing the right slice to experience is important in managing our emotions, especially anxiety.
Jesus chose a day as a useful time slice. Is it possible that with the increasing complexity and pace of our society that today he would refer to an hour slice or a minute slice instead? When is a breath the right time frame?
Try this the next time you are feeling anxious. Narrow your slice to right now, this breath. How much trouble is there in just this time, just this place where you are right now? Are you fighting something that is not here yet, or still. Is your body trying to experience something from the past or future? Yes, trouble may come tomorrow or 10 minutes from now. But, what is here now in this thin slice? What are you seeing and hearing and touching? If you allow yourself to feel and experience the thin slice of what is around you right now, you are likely to find the trouble small and the emotion manageable or even pleasant compared to the thick slice you can imagine.
That’s living life by the slice.
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Guest Author
Eloquent. Perhaps you’ve articulated the most poignant word for our time. Thanks, Dr. Hamilton.
Not sure if my posts can live up to that compliment, but thank you.
Dr. H – Thank you for having all your posts on the blog for our reference…as we need them!
Glad they’re helpful!
Even though I read this post years past, its seems new today in this ‘slice of life’.
I do tend to “grab decades at a time” which is “too much to digest” and it does “take the joy out of living”.
I will try to experience a smaller, thinner slice!
Thank-you for the reminder, I really enjoy reading (and re-reading) your post and look forward to future post!
Yes this is helpful. I too am taking too much slice or too much slice is taking me. This will be helpful as I care for my wife during a trying time. But I praise God that my depression is gone after 16 years!