Gift of Being / The Heartbeat
Introduction
by Tim Cimino, Founder
When I was in my twenties I read a time management book in which the author recommended frequently asking yourself “What is the best use of my time, right now?” I changed the question to “What is the best, most loving use of my time, right now?” That became the guiding question for my life. More than 40 years later I’m still asking myself the question. I think it’s a beautiful question.
Recently I got the idea to try to create a movement of people who commit to asking themselves that question regularly. I’m asking people to commit to at least five hours a week in which you actively answer that question with action. In a way, the goal isn’t just to do good deeds, but to keep upgrading the quality of your efforts.
I’m calling these five hours their Heartbeat hours. The sum total of all the people doing these hours I’m calling “The Heartbeat.” I have this crazy idea that this might catch on, and the more people who do this, the better the world will become.
On the Recommendations page I list about 20 recommendations to get the best results. Probably the most important is to find a support person among your friends or acquaintances to check in with you about twice a week. You just tell them your plans for the next part of the week, and you share your progress. They don’t have to do the Heartbeat, but it’s better if they do. These check-ins need only take five or ten minutes on the phone, or they could be done by text, by video chat, or sometimes in person.
A few months ago another beautiful question came to me, out of the blue: “What are you doing with the gift of being?” I think that question goes well with the “best, most loving” question. Our lives are a gift to us, and we ought to try to create something beautiful with our lives. Unfortunately some people are born into difficult or painful life situations. So it would be wonderful if those who are born into better situations can use the Heartbeat to help lift others out of oppressive situation, whether economically, politically or psychologically.
I can’t say that regularly asking myself the “best, most loving” question has made my life easier. In a way it made it harder. But I believe it made it much
better. And this may seem strange but even twenty years ago I stopped being afraid of death. I think it’s partly because most of the time I was making the best, most loving use of my life, and so I have few regrets.
By the way, now that I’m retired, I’m willing to support up to ten people who can’t find a support person. (Thanksgiving, 2024) Why not give it a try for a week or two? I think that it will affect everyone differently.