Recently, I felt my energy depleted, partially due to the negative mantra in my head saying ‘There’s not enough time’. Does this sound familiar to you? It’s neither a useful nor correct belief, because there’s always enough time for what is important. In fact, likely there is something that could be dropped from one’s daily life that eats up a lot of precious time.
Learning to say ‘no’ to what doesn’t serve us can open up a ton of time for things that matter and are meaningful to you. The average person will watch the equivalent of 9-years of TV in their lifetime! Maybe you don’t watch TV, but you probably notice that there is some aspect you could curb your enthusiasm – maybe it’s shopping, internet or social media, video games, or even spending time with people who don’t enrich your life.
I recall my friend and best-selling author Stephen Cope saying that people who are extraordinary are extraordinary because of what they say ‘no’ to in order to keep their forces on their chosen focus. To me that sounds a lot like living life as a meditation. However for me, the mantra of ‘There’s not enough time’ had been stuck in my head!
Every night from 8-11pm I had been furiously doing all the housework: laundry, dishes, and cleaning. I was tired and I was definitely pushing it! My body said ‘rest’ and my mind said ‘you have to get this done now – there’s not enough time during the day’.
Another not-so-brilliant idea in my head was- ‘During the day when I ‘can think’ is when I do all my writing, emailing, class preparation, writing etc. At night when I’m tired and ‘can’t think’ is when I do the menial chores. Ugg! I was not listening to my body and thus it felt like self-punishment.
I reflected on the yin-yang symbol – it’s an exact mirror of the rhythms of day and night and offers instruction on how it’s best to manage our own energy. Half of our time, and Earth’s time, is awake and active YANG. And the other half is resting and retreating YIN. Our bodies, energy and minds naturally flow with this same rhythm – needing to rest for half of our hours! I’m inspired by Benedictine Monks who for hundreds of years have followed the yin-yang of night and day with The Great Silence. From 8pm – 8am they practice silence together, a time to go inward, rest, reflect and be with God.
Much of what ‘daily practice’ has become for me is to uncover the natural rhythms of my body, the five elements, and nature. By becoming clearer about my focus in life, and what I’m here to do, I’ve replaced those negative mantras with ‘There is enough time for everything’, noticing where I had been squandering time, saying ‘no’ to it a little more, and getting back to my real focus.
Now, I get active housework done in the day time. And turn all electronics and screens off for the night at 8pm-ish. Honoring natural rhythms has offered me a life of balance and health. And it helps me focus on what I am truly here to do – it helps me to be more me!
