Are you running the time and task treadmill? Running as fast as you can to keep up with work and home? Back-to-back meetings, emails, new projects, and managing staff consume you at work. Family responsibilities, household projects, and the basics of running a household deplete what’s left. Then there’s catching up with friends, volunteering, and checking in on your neighbor.
There’s just too much to do. And whatever you’re doing doesn’t seem good enough.
I know what that’s like. I’vs been there too many times.
My daughter once pointed out that “We’re human beings, not human doings.” I keep those words of wisdom in my back pocket and pull them out when I speed up the treadmill.
Taking time to just be is one of the best things I do to get a handle on my life and work. Taking time to just be helps me to better do.
There are a number of ways to practice being. Here are three that work for me. Give them a try. They might work for you.
Turn off the radio (and Siri, Alexa, and all things audio)
Really? Yes. It’s hard but worth it.
I’m a persistent public radio listener. I used to wake up to Morning Edition as my alarm (these days the crickets sound on my phone tells me to get up) . Most times the car radio turns on with the start of the engine. When I read or write, I’ll turn on classical, instrumental music. Other work tasks call for folk, singer/songwriter, or indie music. Podcasts often accompany mundane activities and exercise.
But doing begins to bombard my life, I refrain from all types of audio for a week or more. An hour’s drive? No radio. No podcast. Clearning, cooking, and washing dishes? Quiet. Writing and reading? Only the ambient sounds of farm life outside my window.
Dedicate daily time for quiet
Some people meditate as a daily practice. I do something more akin to mindfulness meditation. Many days I use centering prayer as a way to be quiet.
Whatever you call it, it’s “sit and be quiet.” It’s a time to quiet the mind. It’s not prayer time (even though prayer is in the name centering prayer), This isn’t time to talk to your higher power or read. It’s time to be quiet and quiet the mind.
You might find this hard. I did when I began a daily practice of quiet. My brain sped a mile a minute. The “To do’s” and “What’s next?” screamed and hopped from thought to thought and worry to worry like playful monkeys swinging through the forest.
If that happens to you, it’s OK. When a thought appears, acknowledge it and let it go. That’s what yoga and meditation teachers counsel. Don’t dwell on the thought. If thoughts continue to tumble in one after another, just acknowledge and watch them fall away. Treat them like sand or water in an open hand and let them slip away.
If making time each day to be quiet is new for you, begin with 5 minutes a day. After a few days or even a few weeks, as you find it easier to sit and be quiet, slowly increase the time. Go to 8 minutes, then 10. Try to get to 15 or 20.
Be quiet in a place and just notice
Sometime I go for a walk or sit on my front step and observe whatever comes into my view. I don’t try look for anything in particular. I just listen, watch, and feel.
While sitting beside a gentle stream would be a wonderful way to be quiet and notice, you can be quiet and notice anywhere, Go to a park. Take a walk in the neighborhood. Close your door and ponder the space around you. Sip a cup of coffee at your favorite coffeehouse. Look out your window.
Don’t do anything but observe and notice. Notice the world passing by. Watch the leaves flutter. Observe the joggers and people walking their dogs. Take in the sights, sounds, and smells.
The key? Do this without passing judgment on what you notice. Just observe. Take in the sights, smells, and sounds. Let them be.
So what?
Will doing even one of these things transform your life? No. But taking time to be will slow down your mind, spirit, and body. It will give you a few moments of peace and settle your soul.