Pause.
That’s right. Just PAUSE.
Look away from the screen.
Try to empty your mind. (Or at least let go of any thoughts that float by. ‘Cause they will.)
Hold the breath, just for few seconds.
Annndddd… let it all out.
(Go ahead. Give it a shot. I’ll wait.)
What happened in your body – in your mind – during that brief pause?
Nothing, right?
Or that’s what you THINK, anyway.
If you’re anything like me, pausing is a challenge.
You know you need “downtime,” but you feel guilty for not going to the grocery, writing that proposal, cleaning the bathroom, doing the laundry, planning meals for the week, taking the dog to the vet.
The list of “shoulds” is endless. And we convince ourselves that something is more deserving of our time than little ol’ nothing.
Here’s the thing about nothing. It ALWAYS turns into something.
As a business owner, I learned the hard way that not taking downtime hurts my business. Constant motion makes me scattered, unfocused, ineffective. When I allow myself to chill now and then, the creativity and productivity flows.
The same goes for my body.
When a foot injury forced me to take time off from running, I embraced (or tried to) the quiet process of healing. I sat on my couch with my foot propped up on a pillow and read. Four months later, I feel stronger in many ways than I did before my injury.
And, more important, my foot healed; so I can get back to running. Wouldn’t be the case if I hadn’t paused.
Downtime lets us recharge. It lets our minds wander and connect the dots. It lets our cells heal.
Downtime lets us RECEIVE – love, information, inspiration – in a way that we can’t when we’re frantically pushing through our daily work.
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The holidays force us to hit pause, if only for a few days.
And with that pause comes opportunity. Opportunity for self exploration. Connection. Contemplation. New ideas. Fresh energy.
An opportunity to “do nothing.”
Wondering what to do while you do nothing?
I thought you might be. So I made a list for you. 🙂
You could…
- Meditate for 10 minutes.
- Go for a walk with your sister.
- Interview your family… and LISTEN to their stories. (NPR’s StoryCorps has an app for that.)
- Play a board game with your nephew.
- Grab a coloring book and some colored pencils and make like you’re in kindergarten.
- Have a dance party in your living room.
- Bake cookies with your daughter.
Whatever allows you to embrace the downtime and BE PRESENT.
Worrying about doing dampens our creative juices and our ability to make stuff happen.
We get stuck up in our heads, spinning in our internal world of past and future. And all we do is, well, nothing.
At least nothing satisfying or productive.
So as we take a few days to pause between the end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016, do nothing for a bit.
And watch the magic unfold.
See you in the New Year!
xo,
