Are you tired of being ‘BUSY’ and suffering from overload?

A conversation with a friend once opened a dialogue that I was all too familiar with. That conversation of being so flat out that you are suffering from overload and stress and everything you do seems to bring in even more stuff to do. As a result, you search for opportunities that will bring in downtime. Sometimes you may wish you were ill to allow you to check out of life for a few days and breathe again.

Knowing you need to do something different

I know this very well. In fact, it was what and who I was for much of my adult life. Living in a manic society, I would silently scream about wanting to get off this out-of-control train. I was losing grip over purpose, goals and why I was alive. I knew I had to do something, but it meant doing something different. I knew that meditation would help, as I had heard that this was very effective in getting the clarity I desperately needed, but my mind was telling me I didn’t have time. So finally, coming home from FILEX in 2008, I decided I just had to give it a go – I was desperate.

Daily mediation has given me clarity

I smile now at the ‘Marietta’ that I once was. Meditation almost daily and sometimes more than once a day (when my mind is getting the better of me) has given me the clarity I needed and the time I was searching for. It might seem odd that taking 15 to 20 minutes of your day to sit quietly would actually increase your time to get things done, but it really does.

‘How?’ you might ask – well, it starts by letting you slowly eliminate the noise. The mental conversations you have with yourself constantly serve no purpose other than to cause you more stress. In fact, meditation has helped me challenge some of the thoughts that pop up and ask them, ‘really, why would that happen?’ especially when a self-sabotaging thought threatens to become a repeating line in my mind. Challenging ideas and beliefs are not as violent as I thought they would be. In fact, it has been quite humorous, and then I find myself listening to what I say out loud and what others say.

Finding what works for you

So you are thinking – maybe I will give this a go, but how do I do it? Well, it doesn’t really require anything. I like meditating in different ways – usually, first thing in the morning is good, or when I notice that my heart rate has increased or my breathing has changed because I am feeling a little stressed (becoming much more sensitive to this now), I will find somewhere that I can have 5 or 10 minutes to myself.

Sometimes I do it to a guided meditation (there are hundreds you can purchase or download for free), or some meditation music that I like, or sometimes I simply want silence. What do I think about – well, you have to think about something. So I focus on my breath or chant the words ‘I AM’, or I have a phrase that helps me get through the issue, like ‘I find solutions, I can find solutions, I know the solution’ etc. My friends, this is not rocket science, and everyone can do it, and in fact, everyone needs to do it.

It’s never too late to start

Consider doing this tomorrow and start your day with a different outlook. I know that is precisely what I will be doing!