Buddha Said, "The trouble is, you think you have time."

Did he really say that?

Did you read this quote that often is attributed to the famous Siddhartha Gautama? The renowned person later got the name Buddha and is associated with the foundation of Buddhism.

I heard the quote the first time during my martial arts teachings.

One day a teacher asked me whether I wanted to join a seminar next month to learn some new techniques.

"I am busy.", I said. "There is so much going on in my job. I will attend next year."

"Do you like learning martial arts?" he asked.

"Of course I do. I love it.", was my answer.

“You know, Buddha once said, the trouble is, you think you have time.”

His answer made me change my mind and sign up for the seminar.

Who is Buddha?

Buddha is one of the many epithets of a teacher who lived in northern India sometime between the 6th and the 4th century before the Common Era.

His followers, known as Buddhists, propagated the religion that is known today as Buddhism. — Britannica

Buddhism is a religion that I learned to value over time. In my opinion, it shows some similarities with the teachings of Jesus Christ.

When I would have to summarize in one sentence the synopsis of Buddha's teachings, it would be:

Work on becoming the best possible version of you and be kind to all other living creatures.

"No Problem, I am Young; I have so much time."

In my twenties, my priorities were making a living and getting an education. After graduating, I got a job and let go of some dreams I had a couple of years ago.

One was training martial arts. I was always inspired by the actions people like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, or Jet Li could perform in movies.

But there was never enough time to do it. First, it was school, and since the training hall for Karate was a few kilometers away from my home, there wasn't enough time.

But it didn't matter to a teenager. I am still young, I thought, I can do it later.

It was all about creating the foundations for a great career in my twenties.

"Ah, I am still young; I have so much time.", I thought. I do it when I am in my 30s.

I did some training but never allocated enough time to gain some proficiency in the arts like Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan did.

Now I am sitting here as a 47-year-old man, realizing that time indeed flies by, and in a few seconds, 30 years went by.

Why is it a problem that people think they have time?

When someone thinks he has so much time in their life, it invites laziness.

Instead of doing what is important to you, spending an afternoon on the couch binge-watching the latest Netflix series is much easier.

It is so much easier having the Friday Night Out with friends and coming home early morning completely wasted. It takes the whole weekend to recover from a massive hangover.

I will most likely binge-watching Netflix again.

You should watch Groundhog Day. It is easy to fall into a routine that makes every day look the same as the day before.

The odd thing is, even though the days look and feel the same, time goes by, and everyday people age.

It is so easy, and 30 years are over, and you stand at the grave of the funeral of one of your best friends from 30 years ago.

You remember all your dreams, how you wanted to conquer the world, and suddenly all is over.

All dreams, all possibilities, all that could have been, were postponed to a moment in time that never came for your friend.

Get your priorities right — every single day.

Don't think you have plenty of time when you have a dream and feel the calling. You don't have sufficient time left.

The quote describes the flaw in the thinking of all human beings.

Anything can happen anytime, leaving people with no time to do what they dream of.

That's why it is important to write the big things in your life every morning.

Set aside a couple of minutes every day to do at least one small step towards your most important goal in your life.

And do a bit more the next day. So that you can have a great feeling every evening that you accomplished something during the day that is important to you.

But did Buddha really say that?

No, he didn't.

According to Fake Buddha Quotes, the quote is from a book called:

Buddha’s Little Instruction Book (1994)

In the book, the author wrote down his interpretation of the teachings of Buddhism.

The full quote from the book is:

There is one simple thing wrong with you — you think you have plenty of time … If you don’t think your life is going to last forever, what are you waiting for? Why the hesitation to change?

According to fake Buddha Quotes, Jack Kornfield borrowed it from Carlos Castaneda:

There is one simple thing wrong with you — you think you have plenty of time … If you don’t think your life is going to last forever, what are you waiting for? Why the hesitation to change? You don’t have time for this display, you fool. This, whatever you’re doing now, may be your last act on earth. It may very well be your last battle. There is no power which could guarantee that you are going to live one more minute.

Time is the most precious gift you got.

Make sure to set aside a few minutes to follow your calling every day.

Did you enjoy the content? Then you can do the following:

• Clap a couple of times and leave a comment.
• Check out my other profiles,
• Sign up for my deep tech newsletter,
• Subscribe to my medium profile for frequent updates,
• Sign up to Medium to support the writer's community.