The Power of Doing Nothing

As I am getting back into the swing of blogging again, I have decided to change a few of my own “operating procedures” this time around. I have chosen one day a week to do nothing…Sundays, which brought me back to this quote from Winnie the Pooh. Sometimes nothing is the best course of action to move forward in health and sanity. My second change is that I am going to revisit many of my favorite pieces from past years and post them again with new messages. I have a 100 day challenge that will start later this month (you will hear more about that soon) which means having a repository of 1,000 pieces works to my advantage. So the old, the new, and the unusual will dominate my blog for a while.

So let’s talk about doing nothing…a tough choice yet a wise option on all fronts. How hard it is to relax and do nothing. Sitting still isn’t the problem, sitting and intentionally doing nothing that usually absorbs our mind and energy is the real challenge. Being able to disconnect from our life AND relax in order to be better prepared for our life is the goal.

It seems counterintuitive to slow down to be more effective, when our work ethic yells at us to do more, mOrE , MORE! Cram it in, get it done, do more, work harder, be more engaged, be the leader, cross things off your to do lists. The voices just keep shouting at us even when we are working hard to do nothing. Whew! It can be overwhelming. When I feel this way I take a deep breath and remind myself WHY I am doing nothing. WHY I am worth this quiet and peaceful time. WHY I am giving myself the gift of peace in order to be energetic. And WHY the people I love, serve and lead need me at my best after these hours of nothingness.

So here’s to doing nothing, even if only for a short while. These moments of quiet, tranquility, rest and rejuvenation give us the strength and power to be better, stronger, faster in our working hours. We can only operate so long on an empty tank, so take time this week to fill your tank by doing nothing. You WILL be better for it…trust me. Kill the voices that are driving you to insanity and sit still, do nothing, and enjoy every minute of it. Once you get moving again those voices will be back, and you will be better suited to tackle things one to do item at a time.