The Hourglass Practice

An Hourglass

Perhaps you can think of an hourglass as time in motion. As the grains of sand fall through the narrowed waist in the middle of the glass, we observe how what is still in the future (the upper bowl), passes through the present moment (the narrow waist), and begins to accumulate in the lower bowl, which represents that past. The lower reservoir is where what has happened accumulates, grain by grain, slowly illuminating how much of our limited time we have already lived as compared to how much time is left (our unlived future).

An hourglass represents a finite amount of time. It symbolically illustrates that our lives are also finite. Each life only has so much time. Each life will, at some point, run out. This is a sobering perspective.

A Different Perspective

In this practice, I invite you to consider a different perspective. Rather than focus on what has already come and gone, I invite you to “look up;” to imagine looking up toward the upper bowl of glass. To see your unlived future as full of opportunities, as full of options to enhance, enrich, and enlarge your life. Imagine that you focus on steps you can take that infuse each “grain” of your unlived life with greater gratitude, greater compassion for yourself and others, and for the inevitable ways that we fail to be perfect while being able to fully succeed at being more than enough. This practice can leave you with a well-grounded sense of self-acceptance that can excite your days, lighten your heart, and leave you feeling content in bringing your better self to each passing moment of each passing day of your life.