Spending a few moments by yourself can do wonders for your well being.
No,it is not really being selfish, as some would say.It does not mean you have to shut down the rest of your life or retreat to the Himalayas either.In our daily life we're so busy doing chores like driving down to school to drop our children or pick them up,cooking lunches and dinners, tending to our families,shopping for the household,helping kids with heir homework ,finding solutions to their problems,our problems,meeting clients,listening to our bosses, paying our bills etc.We are constantly wearing our selves out each day.
We can’t fix ourselves. We can’t find our own way. We certainly can’t control life’s twists and turns.But we can gradually learn to calm down and let our grey cells take a siesta for five minutes in a 12 hour schedule or more.
To be honest ,I tried it. Didn't work the first few times , I must admit . I tried to figure out why I have this problem ? I realised I am more comfortable with noise than silence, I pod in my ears instead of natural sounds while walking early in the morning , activity than stillness, struggling than surrender, trying to be strong than admitting to my weaknesses.
A French philosopher once wrote : “All human miseries come from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone.” Could he possibly be right? Do we humans need more me time than we permit ourselves? Time to take our thoughts and feelings seriously?
The courage to bring them honestly before ourselves to see what we may want or where we are heading ?
Recently I wound up having to sit in an office for far longer than I had anticipated. It was an important meeting two blocks away and supposedly a short one so I didn't carry my phone with me . Now for a person who cannot do anything without her gadgets it was supposed to have been a nerve-jangling, finger-strumming time. After an initial fit of irritability,I decided to utilize my time by trying out reflecting inwardly for just five minutes.Surprisingly,there was utter silence in the office lobby I was waiting in and it actually worked .Within five minutes I had made peace with my irritability ,bringing about a smile on my face .
There will always be things to do .It would likely do wonders to focus our lives on not over doing, to focus on the meaning of life above its routines and to focus on the positives more than the negatives. Perhaps you live at such a pace that a half day or even a half hour of silence with yourself seems impractical. For today, put just five minutes of silence between appointments, or work two five-minute periods of quiet into your daily schedules and see the impact it has on your well being .
But please don't forget to switch off your phone first .
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