During the past year, many of us were forced into situations we most definitely had not been in before, or had not encountered for some time – losing loved ones, job reductions, losses and enforced single isolation. How did so many survive and get through such an ordeal? No doubt it wasn’t easy and everyone’s coping strategy may be different, but maximising thought time and facing the problems head on is an option that is far more practical and efficient, rather than drowning your sorrows or masking with artificial delay tactics. Thought time is good for processing thoughts and then compartmentalizing thoughts and feelings into filing them away, or working out strategies for change with action plans.
Talking, or being with other people, and conversation is of course often what we need, as it triggers ideas and a new way of thinking to create some change. It is with these seeds of ideas and thought that can help transform great emotional and physical change in oneself. Many great business plans evolve from these talks and followed personal thought time.
It always goes back to the balance of being social and also having some personal ME time, which now as we come out of lockdown will be more difficult as people may be more demanding on your time, to make up for lost social time. This may be great for those who want to catch up with everyone, however it is important not to forget or lose that personal thinking time. It is essential for well-being. Some need a little and some may need more than others, depending on personality and individual character, and we should remember and allow for this.
So after the socialising conversation, what do we do for personalised thinking time? All of us are different and we all require a different amount, as well as how we utilise it. I am pretty much the same as I always have been, even as a child; I was happy to sit and be creative with drawing or making things, I loved it. I could still be around others making things, but still had time to create, design, and also think to myself. I needed to be creative and this still works for me. As I got older and I got into bodybuilding, I found it was another way to have time to myself to think. I could work out with the weights and work out my mind with any issues or problems as I did so. In fact, a lot of my best decisions were achieved this way.
Whether it is workwise, relationship wise, goals and dreams, if we don’t think things through properly, how can we work out what is best to do and come to a rational decision. How many quotes are there on hurried thought…Take time for all things great, haste makes waste, look before you leap, haste is the Devil, wisely and slow they stumble that run fast. Surely with all these quotes, it is for wise good reason they are present.
It will be tempting to rush out to see everyone you didn’t have the chance to before. However, before you zoom out to catch up with everything you feel you missed out on, don’t forget your own personal ME thinking time. It is a form of natural meditation required for the mind and body; this natural unwind needs to be regular to be beneficial and it has to work for you, and you alone. So whatever it takes – a stroll in the park, pottering in a garden, getting creative with whatever arts and projects you enjoy doing, drawing, painting, decorating, journaling, even clearing out a cupboard or drawer and re-lining with some pretty paper can do the trick – basically anything that works for you and gives you time off from others.
A little, regular quiet time is not being selfish, it is about recharging your mental brain battery in order to function properly, so that as you look after yourself, you have more capability and strength to take care of others too.
Look out for some new easy skills to try at hobby stores, channels, the internet, that just take your mind into some deep thought, to re-evaluate everything, to put things into perspective, order of priority, what is good for you, bad for you, and what you have to do to create a change for the better in all you do.
Stop and take time to think!
Love and Sparkles
Samsara x