#lag()

My mom screamed at me to get a life #cuteness

Lag and delay get talked about as if they are objective truths.

As if they are fixed measurements of your ability, your worth, or your capacity to create the reality you want.

People treat them like proof. Proof that something is not working. Proof that they are doing something wrong. Proof that they are somehow behind.

I do not see it that way.

Lag and delay are not objective truths.

They are reflections of the rules that have been accepted, repeated, and internalized over time. They are standards shaped by outside expectations and then absorbed so deeply that they begin to feel personal.

At some point, many people stop questioning where those standards came from. They simply accept them as reality.

The problem is that these standards were never yours to begin with.

Time, speed, deadlines, and all the pressure attached to them only hold authority when you grant it.

The only person with any power over your reality is you.

Not society. Not timelines created by comparison. Not expectations handed down by people who have no real authority over your path.

A lot of people push back when they hear this.

They say they still experience delay. They say results feel distant. They say there is proof right in front of them that something is taking longer than it should.

Of course that experience feels real.

It feels real because there is still hesitation in identity. There is still fear sitting underneath the desire. Fear of disappointment. Fear of failure. Fear of putting full trust into something and feeling let down. Fear of believing completely, only to question yourself later.

That hesitation creates resistance.

It is not some external force working against you. It is the internal split between wanting something and fully accepting yourself as the person who already has it.

This is why I have never fully agreed with the mirror analogy used to explain delay.

I recently came across another blogger’s perspective on this, and it offered an interesting angle that resonated with parts of my own thinking. I have linked their post below.

For those you are unaware, the common example goes like this: You stand in front of a mirror wearing a blue shirt. You want to see red instead. You cannot stare at the reflection and demand the color change. You change the shirt yourself, and the reflection adjusts.

What this example reveals, though, is that lag was never part of the process to begin with.

There is no delay in that process.

The reflection responds instantly to what is already true. The moment you identify as the person wearing red, the mirror reflects red. There is no negotiation. No waiting period. No resistance.

The reason is straightforward.

Because there is no argument taking place within you.

You are not standing there doubting the change. You are not debating whether you deserve the red shirt. You are not worrying whether the mirror will approve. You simply decide, accept, and embody it.

The reflection simply shows what has already been accepted as true.

That is how identity works.

If there appears to be lag, it is only because part of you is still standing in front of the mirror questioning what you have already chosen.

What it comes down to is this.

Fully accept the identity.

Fully embody it.

Once there is no internal contradiction, there is nothing left to delay.

How it feels to play The Outlast Trials with lag/Rubberbanding: