The Spirit of Doing NOTHING

There is nothing that hits the nerves of women, especially those who feel as if she they have too much to do and not enough time in the day to do it all, more than seeing a man sitting on the couch watching television or (gasp!) napping as she is cleaning, doing laundry, cooking, or keeping the kids from tearing down the house one brick at a time. The punch line is that the reason she is so aggravated by his actions - or lack of action - is because she feels like she does not have the same PRIVILEGE TO DO NOTHING.

Well, it is time to stop denying ourselves the PRIVILEGE and DO NOTHING. A college psychology professor I recently met gave this assignment to his students years ago. The assignment would take one hour, and they had to make sure that nothing would interfere with this block of time. In this hour they were to do NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING. The purpose of the exercise was for them to experience what could happen if they disengaged from the whirlwind of life and re-engaged with themselves.

What an amazing idea. How often do women take an hour to do NOTHING? The answer is simple: never. There is a mind set that if we stop doing what we do, the house of cards will tumble down. Yet, there is nothing more important than taking time to do something, or in this case, nothing for ourselves. In an hour of contemplation so many amazing things can arise within; ideas can form, anxiety can ease, goals can come back into focus, or it can be time to just have peace of mind.

Find a time in your schedule and block out 1 hour of time. Make it a priority, a meeting, whatever you have to do to make it a full hour where nothing else will infringe upon this time. During the hour you may take a walk or journal, but refrain from speaking with anyone or any outside distractions. The most important element of the exercise is enjoy this one hour of doing NOTHING. Do not feel guilty for taking time out of your life to do rest, relax, and rejuvenate. Or, turn it around and make a weekly or monthly guilty pleasure, it costs you nothing but what a return on your investment!