Here’s my encouragement today.
After you read this, wherever you are…
1. Set a 5 min timer on your phone
2. Put your phone away (preferably on “Do Not Disturb” as well)
3. Sit or lay down with your eyes closed
4. Focus on your breath and let your mind wander wherever it takes you.
Everything and everybody can wait.
Take those 5 minutes to be still.
Do it for yourself.
You need this.
Don’t beat yourself up if you need a long break.
It’s good to take a whole mental health day to reset (maybe a few).
Stepping away provides a perspective we wouldn’t get if we were always on the go.
Those moments of stillness bring us the clarity we need.
They bring balance back to our lives.
They reenergize us and help us move forward again.
It’s a practice we should institute often.
What is it about a warm cup of coffee that makes us feel good?
Maybe it’s the taste first thing in the morning.
It definitely hits the spot.
But how much it is about the memories? Whether we drink it daily or periodically, there’s always something about that first sip.
It’s never rushed. There’s a moment of stillness. A heightened level of joy as it hits us.
It’s an instant flashback to hundreds of moments; an after-dinner coffee with friends, a fresh cup while standing on the first tee, or overlooking the mountains on a crisp morning.
That first sip brings us back. Back to the simple things in life. Back to times when we were present.
At that moment. When nothing else mattered.
Maybe it’s just a sip of coffee. Who knows.
Finding that peace, joy, and stillness, throughout our day, however, we can get it, should be something we all strive for more often.
We can get it in our heads that if we’re not moving forward, fast and furious, then we will be left behind.
This is one of the self-limiting beliefs I had for many years. The notion that there is some race.
What I’ve come to realize is that we can all move forward, extremely fast, but it comes at a big cost. We rush projects, we rush parenting, we rush our partners. We are so worried about the days ahead that we forget the moment we are in right now.
We can all go fast.
But it’s the ones who can be still that achieve the most happiness.
They gain perspective on the world around them. They ponder decisions. They develop new routines by analyzing current ones. They open their eyes to new possibilities. They think.
This can’t be done when we are moving a mile a minute. It’s impossible.
The only way to speed up is to slow down. Retool the engine. Refine the skills. Be thoughtful about the next course of action.
With that, we can have the opportunity to move at a greater clip while recognizing that it’s important for intermittent stops.
We have to give ourselves this time to pause.
It’s the only way we’ll ever get ahead.
You can’t turn back the clocks.
Days can pass slowly but years sometimes feel like they’ve flown by. That’s how our minds look at the past. More highlights versus seeing a whole rewind of the game.
That’s why it’s so important to continue the work of staying present.
Did we accomplish what we wanted today?
Did we say the things we needed to say at the moment?
Did we make decisions today that set us up even better for the next day?
We might not be able to turn back the clock but we can surely slow it down at the moment.
Stay focused. Stay present. Stay still.
Enjoy this time before it’s gone, too.
The need for patience always comes at the most difficult times. The times when we need to take a deep breath or a “chill pill” we are normally racing around a mile a minute and worrying.
That’s where the practice of patience becomes an important part of our accessory work.
Sitting in thought. Or silence. Or going through past scenarios and how we could’ve handled them differently are all necessary practices to learn more patience.
It’s hard work. It’s uncomfortable work.
But it’s powerful.
Even sitting with our eyes closed for 5 minutes a day will bring us the mindfulness to exercise patience when we need it most. Maybe some days we might need more time, too. That’s okay and we should reward ourselves with it.
We’ll only know if we put in the work in the first place and see how we feel.
Let’s become prepared for those future moments by getting uncomfortable now and learning how to deal with them.
Patience becomes a great ally we want on our side.
