Balancing act, juggling act, whatever you want to call it, all I know is that there are more balls to juggle these days and they seem to be moving faster. Agreed? We are trying to stay in front of that perceptually moving ball and time seems to be everyone's arch enemy.
It makes me kinda sad to even write that, along with sharing a recent report that shows a 400% increase in anti-depressants in the last decade. Combine that with a narrowing attention span of 8.25 seconds (a gold fish has a 12 second attention span, not sure how they measured that ) and we have kind of gotten ourselves in a sticky situation.
Emma Seppa, author of the Happiness Track, suggests that managing our energy, not time, is the key to balance. There are 3 main things that zap our energy:
So what is the key to better energy management? Calmness, "keep calm and carry on":
Helps you conserve mental energy
Allows you to exercise self-control without effort
Reduces the power of negative thoughts by providing perspective
When your body is at ease you deploy energy more skillfully and at will.
How do we achieve a state of calm when we are feeling anything but calm with all the shenanigans going on in our lives?
We can redirect and refuel and find the sunshine inside. That is right, compelling science shows that when we do things like practice mindfulness it can actually change the structure of our brain and turn off our fight, flight and flee response that ongoing stress can cause and build the regions of our brain that promote self regulation, empathy, compassion and joy.
Lets face it the stress response is suppose to be for when we are getting attacked by a lion, not for everyday self management. But the "on" button seems to be stuck and it is making us sick. So how do we turn it off? We sit down, slow down and be with ourselves for a few minutes everyday. Drop into the moment by stopping all the "doing" and spend a few moments "being".
I know it sounds too good to be true and believe me it sounds simple, but it's not easy, however the results can change your life. So just start with a few minutes a day and let it grow over time, you will find that you are buying yourself.... more time, ease and joy. By finding a few moments each day to slow down, pay attention to your breathing, and focusing your attention you can become more aware of what is happening in your life. You will notice what is sucking your energy ( you might just find it is that crazy monkey mind that keeps playing full feature films in your head over and over again), this will then allow you to make choices that will help you to manage your energy.
If sitting on a cushion is not for you try yoga, painting, walking meditation, running, playing music. As I said in my prior post what we find reviving is different for each of us. Just find something that you can intentionally focus you attention on and turn your "thinking mind" off.
Let the magic begin ....