Relaxing the Bee

Relaxing the Bee

You are so great. You are smart, and brilliant, and wise. You are creative, talented, and skilled. You are kind, and compassionate, and loving. I see that in you.  I like that in you.

Do you?

Have you taken the time to get to know the single most important person in your life? The one person you can really get to know all the way through? It’s worth the effort. It’s worth the time.

Or are you busy. So much to do at work, so much to do at home. Family is just go, go, go. A few hours of sleep, and you are back at it again, barely able even to tell when you are hungry or tired or how you feel about things.

Too busy to think, too busy to breathe, certainly too busy to take some time to know yourself.

That kind of busy lets us know we’ve got something going on. Perhaps we have the idea somewhere that a job is more important than we. Perhaps we have shut down enough that we are running at breakneck speeds on autopilot. Perhaps we are running away from something, in our lives, in ourselves.

You deserve better than that, my dear one. You deserve a life of satisfaction, and presence, of enjoyment, and intimacy, and significance. You deserve to take care of you, of your family, of your loved ones, not just tending to their needs.

You can have a thousand thousand tasks to do, and not be busy. You can have six things to do and be busier than a bee at a flower show.

The difference is all inside you. But you knew that, right?  

When we are sitting at a computer all day, we know we need to take little breaks for our bodies, to get up and stretch, to take a short, brisk walk, to drink some water, in short , to refresh our physical bodies.

Likewise, when we are busy in our minds, we need to take little breaks from that kind of thinking, and refresh our minds. We can use our body-break time, to notice where our feet are, to feel them, to feel our bottom nestled in the chair. To ask ourselves, “How do I feel right now?”  To ask ourselves, “What do I want? What do I like? Is this what I choose to be doing?”

When I remember to slow down inside, to calm my thoughts, to pacify my heart, I seem to get as much done, but without needing the extra energy. When my co-workers are all cranked up, staying soft and quiet will often help them get quiet. With the extra room in my head and energy in my body, I have time to notice where I’m at, and to consider if it’s where I want to be.

Over and over, I find that one of the keys to living a satisfying day is remembering to relax. When I relax my body, my energy can flow. When I relax my feelings, my emotions can flow. When I relax my mind, my thoughts can flow. When I am relaxed, my life can flow. When everything is flowing, it’s easy to like myself.

How have I change from harping on or ignoring me to enjoying my relationship with me?

(c) Pam Guthrie 2013 all rights reserved 11162013