What to do when you’re feeling a little grey…

I’d forgotten what it’s like to be going through an issue, dealing with a challenge that life brings.

You know that feeling when you’ve gained momentum and reached a kind of cruising speed, where you’re getting things done, and you feel on top of things? And I’ve felt like that for a few months now. Which after some years of health challenges I’ve had, is quite some contrast.

And do you know that feeling when you can tell something’s off kilter, but you’re not quite sure what? You can feel it cooking inside but it hasn’t surfaced yet.

It takes some reflective sensitivity to notice things when they’re brewing at this stage. And I’m sure there are even more refined layers of attention beyond. Perhaps it’s like that feeling when you’re driving and you notice the car pulling to one side just a little… not its usual easy riding, but that perceptible sliver of a distinction. These are the kinds of feelings that can act as signals for us to shift into a different mode. If we’ve been focusing mainly on getting things done, we can shift our attention, and spend some quiet time, reflecting on the inside.

And it’s in that kind of quiet time that you can perceive these slivers… those meek voiced feelings that request your acknowledgement.

And from this quiet space you can be present to those ‘children of your unconscious’.

Because, for all the processing power of your brain…. It still takes a lot to handle the mass of information being hurled at us all day every day. We deal with this by keeping moving, expressing ourselves, dreaming and daydreaming, and being creative. Sometimes we also deal with things by consuming; eating, drinking, smoking, or immersing ourselves in some kind of adrenalin/endorphin addiction.

So we need to be dealing with things at every level. And because of the sheer volume of daily life it takes an act of will to turn off, make space and just sit with yourself contemplatively.

Challenges come and go. They can come from outside or from within. The outside stuff is kind of easier to deal with because usually it occupies a large portion of our consciousness.

But the challenges arising from within often dwell at the fringes of our conscious awareness.

By regularly taking your quiet time, you allow yourself the space to perceive challenges early before they begin to stagnate and influence your behaviour in ways you don’t want.

You allow yourself the time to deal with these challenges as they arise. And you’re able to let them go.

It’s one of the most nourishing things you can do for yourself. And when you’re nourished you have more energy to interact with, to be creative and expressive with. When you have more for yourself, you have more to give.

That makes taking time for yourself one of the most generous things you can do also!

Once you make the decision to do this, you’ll find your own way to include this time in your schedule. Let it be an act of playfulness with your insides 😉