“Down Time” is wonderfully uplifting
It is summer and many of us are programmed to take some time off to complete, but some of us feel guilty if they are not productive. Take a vacation? Really? I recently from a 11-day vacation in Costa Rica my husband. It was a real vacation. No computers. No cell phones. No mental or work plans. to meet no one. I was so happy because I did not expect what happened two days trip.
We adjusted our retreat electronic media very quickly. But I was not expecting a creeping feeling that something was missing. Something very important was gone, and while I travel and fun with my husband, I felt a bit empty. After two days of internal query, I located what I felt was missing. I had to withdraw from the labor force. Not the kind of work, where I answer e-mails, phone calls, work on the computer. Type of work, if they believe they are making a difference in the world and growing. I felt that I was to do nothing to improve. I brought an empty log expected great insights and discoveries. Nope. Not at all. Just walking, resting, eating, looking always lovely bird (Yes, admit I am a bird observatory), massaged. What was the purpose of all these things? Part of me had needed a goal to feel fulfilled.
One night in desperation I turned inward to the spiritual guide for a perspective on the topic. Voice within said: “.. I think that if you do not progress in life to do anything but do something you take a break for recharging … Without these will wear down Relax.. You do not fail.”
OK. I feel better now. I was sitting. At least this was so. I could give up and let it happen. When I was in some “down” time has become very clear. I was full. I thought that I filled with my work and my learning. But it was a different type of fuel. I was nourishing my body, and the rest of me on a deep level. Forward movement is stopped and it felt strange. Then I saw dust created meaning and importance of peace.
Now I have respect for my time down. Try to breath between calls and appointments. Allow me to sleep and sometimes even to sit on the porch and watch the flowers and listen to the birds in my garden to wander. When I got back to work refreshes and more productive.
I know that there is still a part of me, I should be to belong to productive thinking. Now I’m learning the importance of time to rest and appreciation of what is happening around me. I belong to, no matter what they do and are higher if we are “down time” in my wallow.
By Taha Mateen
