"All
of man's troubles stem from his
inability to sit quietly in a
room alone.” Blaise Pascal
Recently
I participated in an exercise
where I was required to sit
still and do nothing for four
hours. Imagine! Who has four
hours to sit still and do
nothing? I am someone who is
comfortable with meditations,
guided visualizations and
totally believes in napping for
the soul. For this experiment,
these activities were not
allowed.
For
most of us "just
being" with ourselves is a
huge challenge. We usually have
so much to do and there are so
many things to think about. I
chuckled when a friend told me
that they restructured their
whole company while having a
massage! No time a wastin'
there!
It
prompts me to ask what the
benefit could be of sitting
still and doing nothing. Until I
tried to do it, I might have had
a lot of lofty and philosophical
answers. It may have said
"It's a time to get in
touch with yourself" or
"You feel connected to
yourself and your inner
wisdom." These are
certainly true for some people.
And if that were it, I wouldn't
be writing this article.
From
the outset I had to hold tight
to my commitment to complete the
challenge. No matter what came
up, I repeatedly gave myself
permission to be alone with
myself and not do anything. I
had to let go of my fears that I
would forget important thoughts,
miss crucial calls, or lose four
hours of productivity. What I
noticed in the time I set aside
was that I was bombarded with
messages about what I should be
doing. It took a while for all
the chastizing and guilt to
settle down. When it did, there
was a surreal feeling of being
relaxed, alive and conscious.
When
it was all over I felt proud of
myself for making it through. I
also, begrudgingly realized I
felt rejuvenated and fresh new
ideas suddenly
"popped" into my head.
I had a sense that lots of
wonderful messages were
routinely "lost" in
the busyness of my mind. It made
me wonder what a difference a
similar, consistent practice
might make in my life. And ...
what brilliant ideas might
finally be revealed.
QUESTION
FOR THE MONTH: What internal
wisdom is waiting for a chance
to be heard?
