Gratitude and Trust: Six Affirmations That Will Change Your Life

Mindfulness

WHEN NOTHING IS ENOUGH

It’s the final week of summer and I think this is a great time to sit back and literally do nothing.

One week and the fall rush begins.

Most of us are aware of the fact that often times our greatest thoughts, inspirations and insights comes when we are literally doing nothing. We could be taking a shower, washing the dishes, waiting in line to fill the car with gas, sometimes if we are not frustrated when we are stuck in traffic, we are doing seemingly nothing and inspiration and clarity have the space to appear.

I know for me the bath or shower is often the most fertile spots for me to find answers to questions I have been pondering. Or sometimes new questions arise.  In the quiet and quest for nothing comes something I can use or need.

We like the chatter and the cacophony of being busy and having our brains buzzing. It fills that space. The space that fear, and doubt and anxiety can creep into if we are not paying attention or if we are paying too much.

If we are really quiet and still what might we hear?

Big duh, it’s what meditation is all about. And those who meditate know just calming yourself with your breath leaves the space for enormous things to come in. It also allows us that much needed down time, the moment when we really take the shut off valve and turn it as far as it will go.

Summer is the one time when we should be able to do that.

We are supposed to take a vacation.  The root of the word is  vacation is ” to vacate” –  which means to clear out, leave empty.  But in our modern way we have done the reverse, instead of allowing ourselves the much needed time to vacate, vacate our ambitions for a spell, vacate our tension, vacate our fears, vacate our needs and wants and crazy paces, we tend to fill it up with more stuff.  We fill it with lessons and activates, and if we can vacations;  where often times we run to the airport and see twelve cities in as many days.

I loved Steppie Royes post a few weeks ago, she took her chair, she took some music and she sat. That is the right thing to do.

So this week, our last week of summer, take some time and just vacate, and veg out.

Take some time each day and just do nothing, and don’t’ feel guilty about it.

The guilt mechanism is so easily triggered when we  think we are not performing at our highest level.
Well, leave all that behind.

If you like to walk in the outdoors or on the beach take some time and do that.  If you like to cook and just putter, do that.  If you want to stay in bed and read or journal do that. If want to watch old shows from the 70’s on TV do that.   If like Steppie you want to take a chair outside and just sit under a tree do that!

But leave the some nice big empty spaces so you can  just recharge.

At the end of this summer vacation – vacate – I promise you that space will fill up while you are doing nothing.

And the things that come in will be pure and unadulterated by thoughts or confusion or what if’s.

You might find some answers while you are not looking and you might find some new questions and you might just be content in that space called nothingness.

Enjoy!