Don’t Just Do Something- Sit There

“I do one thing – I do it very well – and then I move on.” – Charles Emerson Winchester, MASH TV Series

Do you have only 2 speeds – fast and faster? You probably feel if you slow down you’ll get so far behind you’ll never get caught up. And yet if you think about it, you might realize that the only way to catch up to yourself is to stop rushing.

Think about the last time you stopped and did absolutely nothing. That doesn’t include taking a break and scanning the newspaper, making out a to do list or watching TV. We are multitasking maniacs, with so much to do and so little time we are compelled to work on 2 or 3 or more things at a time and end up stressed out and miserable.

Leo Tolstoy said, “If you want to be happy, be.” Sit and do nothing. If that idea makes you squirm, you’re not alone. Our minds are usually tightly controlled, balled into the proverbial mental fist so to speak. When you take time – even just 10 or 15 minutes to just “be” you give your mind a chance to stretch and unfold on itself. Kind of like stretching your muscles after a workout.

Set aside time each day to quiet your mind – with nothing in mind. No work to do, no goal, nothing you are supposed to think or feel. For 10 minutes your mind is free to just be. Let it go where it wants to go and if you start to worry, fret, or think about the day’s concerns, just gently let it go to wandering freely again.

When you let your mind free to walk by itself, it will return to you refreshed and renewed. You can’t wait for the time to occur naturally because it never will. Satchel Paige said, “Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits.” Don’t underestimate the power of just sitting.