Time may not be your friend when you decide to do some journey within.
You may have to do your grocery shopping, meet some friends, clear out the store room, fix the broken window, spend more time with your kids, climb Mount Everest, go swimming in the coral reefs… there are always some other things to do.
But if you have made a commitment to look inside you, even if it’s just for 1 minute, block off that 1 minute.
Sure, the house may burn down, the kids may scream at you, the floor may not get cleaned, the broken window will remain… broken… give yourself that 1 minute. Your actions after that 1 minute may surprise you. Your actions after that 1 minute will be a meditated action rather than a reaction.
If you can spare more than 1 minute, make the necessary arrangements to quiet down your environment so that the world doesn’t come chasing after you. Sometimes, it is just as simple as asking. Asking your kids for permission to take a 20 minute break. Asking your colleague to cover you for this 20 minutes. Asking your spouse to monitor the household for the next 20 minutes.
When you get your 20 minutes, treasure it. Make an agenda for it. Decide the journey that you plan to take. For example, you want to find out how to fix a relationship problem with one of your friends, focus on this problem for this 20 minutes. Set a timer. Preferably a ticking one. Find a quiet spot.
During your 20 minutes, all you need to do is focus on this problem. Look into yourself. See why is this problem grabbing so much of your attention. Why is it important to you that you keep thinking about it. Let the mind simmer on the problem.
After the 20 minutes, don’t expect to come out all wise and able to deal with the problem. Don’t expect to solve the problem immediately. What you’ve just given yourself, is the chance to observe the problem and its relationship with you. When this connection is made, you will find that you can get a handle of the problem more easily, because now, the mind will be at work for you. Even when you’re not thinking about it, the mind is. The mind will be searching for the solution for you.
One day, the solution may just present itself. I would argue that because you have made the connection between the mind and the problem, the mind starts to notice the solution, so much so that it “suddenly” appears.
But hey, it doesn’t matter what my argument is. What does matter, is that if you were to spare 20 minutes to a problem and it could give you a solution without you even thinking about it, that sounds like a great investment.
If you think this is worth sharing, do share it with your friends. Thank you for reading.
Related posts: