I’m currently on a “Doing-Diet”. You heard me… I’m refraining from… well… DOING just about anything!
I’m delighting in sleeping all day. Cooking new gourmet recipes. Watching endless sunsets. Sitting for hours at the beach. Meditating. Walking. Going to movies. Whatever feels the least like “doing” that I can find!
So, what’s inspired this new diet of mine? (and how can you get in on this fun too?). It’s simple: modern life is FAST! It’s complex, complicated, and sometimes just downright overwhelming. Years ago, life was simpler. We had less pulls for our attention, less options, less stimulation. We could breath easier, focus better and belly laugh a whole lot more. But now more and more of us are going into burn-out simply because we’re not allowing ourselves to NOT do anything… even for a few moments at a time.
Others of us “steal” time for ourselves. We zone out, watch TV, surf the internet or lose ourselves for hours on Facebook. But it simply never, ever quenches the thirst we have for that powerful still connection deep within.
I find so many people— friends, clients, strangers I meet — saying the same thing: “Life’s just too much sometimes!” But what do we do when we get this insight? How many of us truly take the break our bodies, minds and souls deeply need to get re-nourished, refreshed and recharged?
Very few, unfortunately.
This is why burn-out is at an all-time high and adrenal fatigue is becoming more common than ever (I know first-hand).
I invite you to explore your life, review your schedule and scan your to-do list to see if you too have unknowingly joined a “Doing-Derby” rat-race-to-the-finish — that Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Getter attitude that leaves you with little time for quiet, stillness, gentleness, intimacy or an open heart.
I’m not saying this diet is easy! Trust me, I struggle daily with the desire to do, go, and gobble up life at my previous high-speed pace. But with gentle inner course-correcting, each one of us can find moments, minutes, or perhaps even hours and days in our schedules to take some well-needed (and deserved) time out to reconnect with ourselves… our spirits.
So for this month, be gentle. Be loving. And try shifting your life’s car into 3rd gear for a while… Trust me, cruising downhill is far more fun than the usual modern-day uphill drive!
