When Time Stood Still and We Were Saved From Falling

My wife and I were on a break away and went for a walk. The route details were on a leaflet. It was about five miles through woods and across fields. Sounded fine for a mild afternoon.

We set off and soon got into our stride, not another soul anywhere to be seen - so perfect for walking and forgetting the rest of the world. For a while the pathway was alongside a small river, which we then had to cross using some stepping stones, and make our way up the side of the valley via some uneven stone steps. A reasonable climb and shouldn't have been any problem.

We were nearly to the top when my wife must have missed the step or slipped on the uneven rocks - whatever - she started to fall backwards. I was a couple of steps behind her ... it was then that time stood still!

Thoughts started flowing through my mind ...

"When my wife hits me I will fall backwards as well ... I'll hit my head on the rocks below. She will land on top of me but will still have a nasty fall ... what should I do for the best ... "

I was working out what to do and the consequences, as my wife was falling backwards so it can only have been a second, if that. I felt my back foot being lowered to the step below and, goodness knows how, I caught her! I didn't fall and neither of us were hurt.

The point is that time did stand still, I can't possibly have had all of those thoughts in a normal, every day, time frame. So, "What is time?"

We got to the top of the steps and looked down. My wife was shaken and in tears thinking of what might have happened and said words to the effect that our Guardian Angel must have been looking after us. I still can't explain how I caught her.

I've only experienced that sort of thing once. Oh, other than when I was riding a donkey backwards - but that's another story!

So can time stand still?

Time Doesn't Exist: All We Have Is The Present Moment

Once upon a time I published several mail order magazines, one being Wealthy Times. I did this for about ten years, initially part time and later full time. I then decided to move on to other things when I sensed that the Internet would take over from publishing. Anyway, today's post is an article I published in Wealthy Times back in 1997. Something happened yesterday to remind me of this.

All you have is now. The measure of our peace of mind and the measure of our personal effectiveness are determined by how much we are able to live in the present moment.

Regardless of what happened yesterday, and what happened today, now is where you are. From this point of view, the key to happiness and contentment must be focusing on the present moment.

One of the beautiful things about children is that they absorb themselves totally in the present moment. They manage to stay involved in whatever they are doing, whether that be watching a beetle, drawing a picture, building a sandcastle or wherever they choose to devote their energies.

As we become adults, many of us learn the art of worrying about several things at once. We can allow past problems and future concerns to crowd into our present so that we become miserable and ineffective.

We also learn to postpone our pleasures and our happiness, often developing a notion that sometime in the future everything will be much better than it is now.

The High School student thinks, "When I'm out of school and don't have to do what I'm told, everything will be great!" He leaves school and recognises that he won't be happy until he has left home.

He leaves home and starts University and soon decides, "When I have got my degree, then I'll be really happy!" Eventually he gets his degree at which time he realises he can't be happy until he has a job.

He gets a job and has to start at the bottom of the heap. You guessed it, he can't be happy yet.

As the years roll by he postpones his happiness and peace of mind until he gets engaged, gets married, starts buying a home, gets a better job, starts a family, gets the kids in school, owns his home, gets the kids out of school, retires ... and he drops dead before he allows himself to be blissfully happy. All his present moments were spent planning for a wonderful future which never arrived.

Living in the now is about expanding our awareness to make the current moment more delicious, rather than shutting off. Each of us has the choice, moment to moment, as to whether we really live and absorb and allow ourselves to be touched and affected.

Whenever we are living in the present moment, we drive fear away from our mind. Essentially fear is the concern over events which might not happen sometime in the future. This concern is paralysing to the point where we find it almost impossible to do anything constructive.

However, you are only open to intense fear when you are being inactive. The minute you start to take action and actually do something fear subsides. Living in the now is about taking action without fear of the consequences. It is about putting in our effort for the sake of the involvement, without worry as to whether we will get our just rewards.

Time doesn't really exist, except as an abstract concept in your head. The present moment is the only time you have. Make something of the moment!

Time Stood Still When I Caught My Wife ....

I posted a photo of an old clock on Google+ which was made way back in 1750. One of the comments I had was from James Faulkner who wrote: "What is time? Who knows."  This immediately stirred a memory about time from a while back:

My wife and I were on a break away and went for a walk. The route details were on a leaflet. It was about five miles through woods and across fields. Sounded fine for a mild, afternoon.

We set off and soon got into our stride, not another soul anywhere to be seen - so perfect for walking and forgetting the rest of the world. For a while the pathway was alongside a small river, which we then had to cross using some stepping stones, and make our way up the side of the valley via some uneven stone steps. A reasonable climb and shouldn't have been any problem.

We were nearly to the top when my wife must have missed the step or slipped on the uneven rocks - whatever - she started to fall backwards. I was a couple of steps behind her ... it was then that time stood still!

Thoughts started flowing through my mind ...

"When Karin hits me I will fall backwards as well ... I'll hit my head on the rocks below. She will land on top of me but will still have a nasty fall ... what should I do for the best ... "

I was working out what to do and the consequences, as my wife was falling backwards so it can only have been a second, if that. I felt my back foot being lowered to the step below and, goodness knows how, I caught her! I didn't fall and neither of us were hurt.

The point is that time did stand still, I can't possibly have had all of those thoughts in a normal, every day, time frame. So, as James said, "What is time?"

We got to the top of the steps and looked down. Karin was shaken and in tears thinking of what might have happened and said words to the effect that our Guardian Angel must have been looking after us. I still can't explain how I caught her.

I've only experienced that sort of thing once. Oh, other than when I was riding a donkey backwards - but that's another story!

Other Random Posts:
Manipulating Time In A Spaceship
Best Of Friends: Daisy The Ghost And Jasper The Dog
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Is There Such A Thing As Time?

Is there such a thing as time? Most likely we'd answer that there must be, because we can watch it tick by on our clocks, but this may not be proof that it exists.

Time is the duration between events, we measure it astronomically with reference to the sun or stars. If, however, nothing moved and there was nothing that changed would there still be time? Kant maintained it is simply something we impose on to reality in order to make the world more comprehensible.

There is so much to think about, so many questions like: Does time have a beginning and an end? Does it flow in one direction and so on. It's mysterious stuff because it can sometimes appear to be manipulated. Here's something interesting ...

Let's imagine two identical clocks, both accurate and synchronised. Now let's place one on a spaceship travelling away from earth and the other somewhere safe and sound in a secure cupboard, let's say in your office. Now when the spaceship finally returns, guess what?

The travelling clock will show that less time has elapsed than the clock sitting in the cupboard. It's true.

On a simpler level we all notice how time flies when we are having fun. It's the same period, according to our watch, but if we are waiting for something, time drags. Get engrossed in an interest and an hour can tick by in an instant.

Time is an illusion, like the rest of life. It all depends on how we see it.

Further Reading:
The Journey To Immortality
Slow Down Your Heartbeats To Live Longer
Make Something Of The Moment

Walking Along A Beach After A Storm And A Lesson About Time

Some Sunday photos taken following the recent storm and heavy rain in Cornwall. We walked through the woods, along by the river - with a green orb in the picture ...

... and then onto the beach at Pentewan where the river meets the sea.

There was debris on the beach and the river had cut away deeply into the sand. We pottered along the shoreline picking up stones and shells, the only people about.

Amazingly, after our sandy walk the sky changed colour completely and the sun came out to play. Everything looked very different as we approached Pentewan village, the old harbour was calm and still.

Life, like the weather, can change very quickly. It's probably just as well to enjoy the things we love when we can.

Quotes:
There comes a point in your life when you realize how quickly time goes by, and how quickly it has gone. Then it really speeds up exponentially. With that, I think you start to put a lot of things into context; you start to see how huge the world is, and really, the universe. ~ Michael Keaton

You look at most artists, the arc of their career, there's a definite decline at the end. And that decline could set in at any time. In your 50s, or your 60s and 70s if you're lucky. Time goes by fast, and you've got to be busy all the time. ~ Seth

I know this much: that there is objective time, but also subjective time, the kind you wear on the inside of your wrist, next to where the pulse lies. And this personal time, which is the true time, is measured in your relationship to memory. ~ Julian Barnes

Time flames like a paraffin stove and what burns are the minutes I live. ~ Irving Layton

Why kill time when one can employ it. ~ Proverb

The most important gifts you can give are your love, time, and attention. Slow down, take time to smile and enjoy loved ones... life goes by way too fast. ~ Nishan Panwar

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The World's Oldest Working Clock At Salisbury Cathedral

A while back we visited Salisbury Cathedral, which is believed to be on the same ley line as Stonehenge. It's a magnificent building and houses the world's oldest working clock - photo above.

The first stones for Salisbury Cathedral were laid in 1202 and the clock is from 1386. It originally resided in a separate bell tower until 1789 when it was moved to it's present position in the North Nave Aisle.

The clock has no face, as per modern time pieces, and was designed to strike the hours.

The power is supplied by two large stones hanging from pulleys. As the weights fall, ropes unwind from the wooden barrels. One barrel drives the main wheel which is regulated by the escapement, the other drives the striking mechanism and the air brake.

When the weights reach the floor, they have to be lifted back up again, a task that explains the presence of two large wheels shaped like steering wheels at either side of the clock.

Salisbury Cathedral itself is a special place with Britain's largest spire at 404 feet (123m) and has the earliest choir stalls dating back to 1236.


The Cathedral's Chapter House is home to the best preserved of four surviving original Magna Carta sealed by King John in 1215. Written in abbreviated Latin on Vellum, the document set down for the first time the relationship between the King and his subjects and their rights.

The Magna Carta's significance in the democratic world continues today, inspiring documents from the United States Constitution to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

I've often mentioned that I do not belong to any organised religion but I love the atmosphere and history of places of worship. I'd recommend a visit to Salisbury Cathedral if you are ever in the area and, while there, take a look at the world's oldest working clock, the tall spire, the medieval Cloisters, the Magna Carta, the 1236 choir stalls and so on.

Other Similar Posts:
Exclusive Photos Of The Stonehenge Mystery
10 Ancient Monument Story Posts
The Ancients Secret Transmitters Of Energy

A Timely Purely By Chance Coincidence

I rarely wear a watch and try not to be too controlled by time. I also usually sleep well at night.

This is why I make those two statements: Last night I went to bed as usual and nodded off to sleep quite quickly but I woke up and, when I did so, glanced at the digital clock. It was 1:23. I thought it a bit odd but was soon snoring away again - I don't really snore, of course, it's all in my wife's imagination. Anyway, I awoke a second time and again looked at the clock for some reason. This time it was 4:56.

Now I've heard about people seeing several 1s - 111, 11:11 and so on, but never much about 123456.

I tried searching Google for any explanations, but all I could find was on the Faeries and Angels Network. They write:

"Seeing 1:23 or 4:56 (numbers that count upwards like '1,2,3') - Simplify your life. Let go of thoughts related to 'time'. Let go of the old! De-clutter your life. Clean and organize your home or work space. Take a deep breath. Be present in the moment."

This wasn't much help. As I've said I'm not too bothered about time and the clutter I may have in my office isn't real clutter it's, er, important stuff I might need to refer to sometime - possibly.

Oh well, that's it. Message received but not understood! Or it might just have been one of those 'purely by chance coincidences' I've been reading about. Can you believe it - some people claim they have experienced such things. Quite remarkable.

Other Posts With Time Stories:
We Have All The Time In The World
Manipulating Time In A Spaceship
Could Time And Space Eventually Prove Immortality

Freemasonry And Good Stewardship

The following is something I obtained from an official Freemasonry publication, said to have been 'Published by authority of the Grand Master'. It was written by an 'author unknown' and therefore not covered by copyright.

Your whole life is made up of

Abilities, Time and Possessions,

Gifts from God.

Your Abilities include natural talents

and skills which you have learned.

Your Time is divided between

work and rest.

Your Possessions divide between

property you hold and money you earn.

How you manage your whole life,

responsibly or carelessly,

generously or selfishly

imaginatively or fearfully,

is your Stewardship.

All gifts belong to God and your are

the responsible caretaker for a little while.

To be a good steward

is to be able to offer each day,

as an act of worship,

Abilities well used,

Time well spent,

Possessions well distributed.

How the world would change if we all became good stewards.

P.S. I have no personal connection with Freemasonry.

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The Time Shift Into Another Era Or Life

Here's an interesting story from Penny which is on a similar theme to my post A Glimpse Of Her Death In A Former Life. Penny experienced a time shift or perhaps she simply stepped into a bygone age. See what you think.

"I had an experience in my late 20's or early 30's that made me wonder about time shifts or place and time bleed-throughs.

I lived in a New Jersey town for 20+ years, but one afternoon on a busy corner of Broad Street, I stepped off the sidewalk and onto the road. Just like that I appeared to be in another era of that town, perhaps the 1800s or early 1900s.

Everything looked a little hazy and my view was a bit narrow, not being able to see too far on either side. And the weather was still warm, the sun as bright as before. Only now the road was cobblestones (exactly as they used to be in the 19th century I found out later) and to my right was a horse-drawn carriage. By then I was standing petrified and confused in the middle of the road. The carriage was approaching, the horse braying, and I could hear the traffic of horses hooves and footfalls. Behind me and before me, the area (not clearly remembered) was as busy (crowded) as normal reality had been moments before.

Then just as soon as it began, I was back in normal reality, nearly mid road and totally confused. The whole thing didn't appear to take more than half a minute. The 'visit' was a normal feeling, even a bit more heightened. Then the same 'visit' occurred about a year or so later, exactly as before - same spot, again, as I stepped off the road. I saw the same past time scene.

It might be worth mentioning that I seldom get confused in crowds. That it happened twice in the same spot, surely must point to something having happened there once upon a time. That time stamp on that spot - if not regarding my having lived there decades ago - might be picking up on a moment in the life of another woman from an bygone era . . . ."

~ Penny

I wonder if Penny simply stepped into a past time or was this a reminiscence of her own previous life? Memories must all be locked away somewhere in our souls if we believe in reincarnation. The problem is that most of us never find the key to unlock these other life times.

Ley Nodes The Doorways To Other Worlds And Times

A while back I published a post with the title The Ancient Secret Transmitters Of Energy. It was about how I had visited a few places situated on ley lines.

Ley lines interest me and, following something I researched recently, I am wondering if there are places along these lines where time and space slips away.

Where two ley lines cross they are known as nodes and supposedly strange things can happen at these points. Here is an experience by a seasoned ley line hunter Stephen Jenkins.

Stephen's first sighting came about when he was just sixteen years old and this happened near Mounts Bay in Cornwall:

"The clumps and bushes were very still in the windless evening light when I suddenly experienced what I took to be a startlingly vivid optical illusion. Scattered among them, motionless but frighteningly distinct, was a crowd, a host of armed men. For a moment I stood stock still, unable to believe my eyes, then I began to run towards them. At once something like a curtain of heated air wavered in front of them briefly - and there were only bushes and stones.

A lot later in life, while looking at an Ordnance Survey map, he became aware that where he had the vision was approaching, or near to, a ley node.

Now married he returned to the spot of his first such experience together with his wife - and history repeated itself. "And again, as in the deepening light of that August afternoon thirty-eight years before, the illusion of armed men! And again the vanishing as one took a few paces forward."

Strange things can happen at ley nodes: dizziness, disorientation, visions and even the appearance of UFOs.

An interesting theory about UFOs came from Air Marshall Sir Victor Goddard. At a meeting of the British Interplanetary Society he suggested that we shouldn't assume that UFOs were from other planets - they might simply come from an invisible world that coincides with the space of our own.

Though many will dispute the existence of ley lines it could be possible that, at powerful nodes, time and space as we know it is interrupted and sensitives get glimpses of other times or even other civilisations or spiritual realms.

Ley nodes may be the doorways to other worlds and times running parallel to our own.

Further Reading
Following In The Footsteps Of St Michael
The Ancients Secret Transmitters Of Energy
St Pauls Cathedral Protected By A Hidden Power In WW2

Could Time And Space Eventually Prove Immortality

I'm no scientist but the possibilities of time and space fascinates me. Sometimes I get the feeling that we could use these to prove immortality. The patterns are probably out there. As Einstein said, 'God does not play dice with the Universe.'

There is the Special Theory which talks of the lives of twins. If one twin stays on earth while the other takes a flight into space, at close to the speed of light, time will go more slowly on the spacecraft. If the spaceman twin returned to earth after say ten years he will be only five years older - but his twin will have aged ten years. The twin in space will not have felt any different to his twin on earth. There is a time dilation in space.

To take it to a more extreme example. If one twin sets off to the nearest star, 4.3 light years away, and travelled at 98 per cent of the speed of light the journey would take him 8.775 years - but his twin would have aged 43.2 years.

If for the same journey one twin travelled at well over 99 per cent of the speed of light, when he returned everyone he had ever known would be dead.

This may appear to be just theory but it has been proven in part. In July 1977, for example, accurate atomic clocks were placed aboard a U.S. satellite and sent into orbit. On their return the clocks were compared with a similar clock at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington. The satellite's clocks had slowed down by a small amount. Time had therefore passed more slowly on the satellite.

I realise that what I have written is very simplistic, but if we can accept that time can be manipulated then immortality and such things as seeing into the past or future are all possible. Well, perhaps.

Graphic: Cleonis

We Have All The Time In The World

Sorry, but I'm going to mention Crete again today.

I wrote about how there were three signs that persuaded me to holiday in Crete with Karin, my wife. Afterwards I did a post about some Crete coincidences and what I saw to be the meaning of our Crete visit. But now I realise there was something else too.

While on our holiday both my watch and my wife's watch stopped. The batteries must have run out. I've since put new ones in and they are both okay again now.

Bit of a meaningful coincidence that this happened?

I think so because I remember the day mine stopped and we weren't too sure of the time. Both of us felt hungry for some reason. We didn't normally bother with lunch as we had big breakfasts and also much too much at our main meal in the evening. But this particular day we felt a bit peckish.

We were near a small cafe so while my wife sat in the sunshine I popped in to get a couple of cheese and salad baguettes. The proprietors turned out to be from Holland and they said I would have a wait a while as they had a couple of orders to do before mine. Everything was freshly made.

I got talking to the woman as she worked preparing the orders and she started on about time and how relaxed it is in Crete compared to when she visits her home in the Netherlands. We agreed it was a different way of life on the island as everyone was so much more laid back.

Now normally I don't like waiting in a queue, or being in traffic jams, or getting delayed for anything. Probably a lot of us are like this, but on that day I felt suddenly that the world had been lifted from my shoulders. I was quite happy just to sit and relax and wait until my food was ready.

When I got back to Karin I said something like, "Sorry for the delay," but she wasn't the least bit bothered and seemed to wonder why I even mentioned it.

It's now that I realise that one of the lessons of the Crete holiday is to chill out - if that's the right expression - and not to get worked up about time, how long things take and generally being time bounded during the day.

I remember my dad saying, when I was rushing about and in a hurry over something, "You've all the time in the world, son."

Dad was right we do have 'all of the time in the world.' I wonder why we don't always realise this?

On one of our Crete walks, where we had no real idea where we were heading, we noticed a small cave in the cliff side as pictured below. We found that there was an opening at the back and we could walk through the cave and have our own private balcony overlooking the sea and Kri-Kri island - that's the view in the photo at the top of the post.


We sat there looking out to sea, the island and the blue sky and time really wasn't important. We were in harmony with our surroundings - perfect! Who needs watches and time? We have all the time in the world.

(Kri-Kri island is uninhabited except for about 70 goats and is off the north-east coast of Crete.)

Manipulating Time In A Spaceship

Here's a little piece about time from Suzie. The bit I found interesting is the clock in the spaceship:

Is there such a thing as time? Most likely we'd answer that there must be time because we can watch it tick by on our clocks, but this may not be proof that it exists.

Time is the duration between events, we measure it astronomically with reference to the sun or stars. If, however, nothing moved and there was nothing that changed would there still be time? Kant maintained it is simply something we impose on to reality in order to make the world more comprehensible.

There is so much to think about, so many questions like: Does time have a beginning and an end? Does it flow in one direction and so on. It's mysterious stuff because it can sometimes appear to be manipulated. Here's something interesting ...

Let's imagine two identical clocks, both accurate and synchronised. Now let's place one on a spaceship travelling away from earth and the other somewhere safe and sound in a secure cupboard, let's say in your office. Now when the spaceship finally returns, guess what?

The travelling clock will show that less time has elapsed than the clock sitting in the cupboard. It's true!

On a simpler level we all notice how time flies when we are having fun. It's the same period, according to our watch, but if we are waiting for something, time drags. Get engrossed in an interest and an hour can tick by in an instant.

Time is an illusion, like the rest of life. It all depends on how we see it.

Further Reading:
The Journey To Immortality
Slow Down Your Heartbeats To Live Longer
Make Something Of The Moment

Make Something Of The Moment

An article today by L.Stoddart which I first published way back in my ex-magazine Wealthy Times. It's about time and the importance of starting today to achieve our happiness. It's perhaps a bit off subject from the normal post but, erm, it is Sunday!

All you have is now. The measure of our peace of mind and the measure of our personal effectiveness are determined by how much we are able to live in the present moment.

Regardless of what happened yesterday, and what happened today, now is where you are. From this point of view, the key to happiness and contentment must be focusing on the present moment.

One of the beautiful things about children is that they absorb themselves totally in the present moment. They manage to stay involved in whatever they are doing, whether that be watching a beetle, drawing a picture, building a sandcastle or whatever they choose to devote their energies to.

As we become adults, many of us learn the art of worrying about several things at once. We can allow past problems and future concerns to crowd into our present so that we become miserable and ineffective.

We also learn to postpone our pleasures and our happiness, often developing a notion that sometime in the future everything will be much better than it is now.

The High School student thinks, "When I'm out of school and don't have to do what I'm told, everything will be great!" He leaves school and recognises that he won't be happy until he has left home.

He leaves home and starts University and soon decides, "When I have got my degree, then I'll be really happy!" Eventually he gets his degree at which time he realises he can't be happy until he has a job.

He gets a job and has to start at the bottom of the heap. You guessed it, he can't be happy yet.

As the years roll by he postpones his happiness and peace of mind until he gets engaged, gets married, starts buying a home, gets a better job, starts a family, gets the kids in school, owns his home, gets the kids out of school, retires ... and he drops dead before he allows himself to be blissfully happy. All his present moments were spent planning for a wonderful future which never arrived.

Living in the now is about expanding our awareness to make the current moment more delicious, rather than shutting off. Each of us has the choice, moment to moment, as to whether we really live and absorb and allow ourselves to be touched and affected.

Whenever we are living in the present moment, we drive fear away from our mind. Essentially fear is the concern over events which might not happen sometime in the future. This concern is paralysing to the point where we find it almost impossible to do anything constructive.

However, you are only open to intense fear when you are being inactive. The minute you start to take action and actually do something fear subsides. Living in the now is about taking action without fear of the consequences. It is about putting in our effort for the sake of the involvement, without worry as to whether we will get our just rewards.

Time doesn't really exist, except as an abstract concept in your head. The present moment is the only time you have. Make something of the moment!