This piece I wrote back in 2008 and was initially published on the blog Your Changing Direction.

For a couple of reasons this week I have been thinking about time, or to be more precise, how time can effect our perception of a situation we’re in.

The bits of history that have always fascinated me concern how people lived. Over the past year or so I have been following the correspondence of a British World War I soldier, William Henry Bonser Lamin otherwise known as Harry. (http://tinyurl.com/29oys3 )

I suspect it hasn’t escaped your notice that there has been a bit of an election happening in the United States of America. One of the things about President-Elect Barack Obama’s Victory Speech that set me thinking was what he said about the things that 106-year-old Ann Nixon Cooper had seen in her life so far.

Regardless of whether you agree politically or not with Obama, the changes in society that Ann Nixon Cooper has witnessed in 106 years is fairly dramatic, and although I don’t yet know the fate of Harry the WWI soldier I’m fairly certain that he too would report massive changes in attitudes and what is considered important. I also suspect that they would both report that throughout the course of their lives what they choose to prioritise and spend their time on would be different at various stages in their lives.

With that in mind, I invite you to play with the following:

1. Imagine you’re 106 years old, sat reflecting back on your life so far:
What are the things that you are proudest of?
What brings the big grin to your face as you remember it?
Notice what’s important to you.

2. Think of something that the you in 2008 would like a new perspective off. With the benefit of hindsight, as you imagine being 106 sat reflecting back, what do you notice now about that thing? Take all the time that you need to play with this.

3. When you’re ready, come back fully to the present, bringing with you anything that is important for you to bring, you may want to stretch or wriggle your fingers and toes as you become more aware of your current surroundings.

Every person’s experience of playing with this is different, some say that they gain new insight on possibilities; others say that it confirms that there are potential consequences that they hadn’t considered. Often people realise that what they have been choosing to prioritise is not that important to them in the grand scheme of things.

Whatever your experience I’d love to hear about it.