Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from December, 2017

The art of doing nothing

Enlightenment comes in many shapes and sizes. The classic story of St. Paul on the road to Damascus, or the Buddha sitting under the Bodhi tree, or  Sir Isaac Newton getting hit  on the head with an apple, come to mind as examples of  insights that changed the course of history.  Photo by Drew Coffman on Unsplash      But for most of us, insights come in more modest packaging. And  like the previous examples, they can come after months or years of preparation.  Suddenly, one day, we see something differently that changes our lives.  I recall a moment  many years ago,  when something I knew intellectually, abstractly, I suddenly knew with my whole being.   One of my own breakthroughs came as I was sitting on a noisy bus.  I had been struggling with anxiety, and here I was again, feeling jittery.  And then, it hit me:  I don't have to do anything. I can just let these feelings be there.  Bam.  Years of striving to find the right  way to cope with my emotions  just seemed to