check_contents.py

import time
import json
import pathlib

configurable_path = pathlib.Path('/tmp/configurable.json')

configurable = {}

counter = 0

def something():
    global counter
    counter += 1
    print(time.time(), counter)

while True:

  if configurable_path.exists():
    with configurable_path.open() as fd:
      configurable = json.load(fd)

  something()
  
  time.sleep(configurable.get('the_while_loop_delay', 1))