Real Time vs. Thought Time

An excerpt from my book Body Over Mind, a mindful reality check

In our mind’s eye problems should resolve quickly, while in actuality they can work themselves out very gradually.  Though our physical behavior moves sequentially with the clock, thought does not.  Thoughts skip around in ways that make us feel like we can jump in and out of the present moment, and act in the past and future.  Meanwhile, the closest any of us can get to witnessing the evolution of a situation is to look down right now to see what our body is doing in real time.  Despite our restlessness, we must always be here, now, with our body.

I believe we experience anxiety because we cannot move at the pace of thought time.  We become intolerant that our body is busy with what it is doing now and we are not able to get on with the things we are so sure we should be doing.  Recognizing that it is impossible to do anything we are not already doing (because our body is always occupied, and it is our only resource for action), can help us feel more accepting of real time.