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Ease

December 19th, 2009 Leave a comment Go to comments

eat-pray-love I saw this excerpt in Seth Godin’s new book; I thought you might like it. It’s actually written by the ever-insightful Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love.

Read this excerpt, and then comment with how it spoke to you (or didn’t) in the comment box below.

We are the strivingest people who have ever lived. We are ambitious, time-starved, competitive, distracted. We move at full velocity, yet constantly fear we are not doing enough. Though we live longer than any humans before us, our lives feel shorter, restless, breathless…

Dear ones, EASE UP. Pump the brakes. Take a step back. Seriously. Take two steps back. Turn off all your electronics and surrender over all your aspirations and do absolutely nothing for a spell. I know, I know – we all need to save the world. But trust me: The world will still need saving tomorrow. In the meantime, you’re going to have a stroke soon (or cause a stroke in somebody else) if you don’t calm the hell down.

So go take a walk. Or don’t. Consider actually exhaling. Find a body of water and float. Hit a tennis ball against a wall. Tell your colleagues you’re meditating (people take meditation seriously, so you’ll be absolved from guilt) and then actually, secretly, nap.

My radical suggestion? Cease participation. If only for one day this year – if only to make sure that we don’t lose forever the rare and vanishing human talent of appreciating ease.

Well, dear reader – is she right…..?”

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Categories: Attitude Tags: ease up, eat pray love, elizabeth gilbert, seth godin

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Debra McKown

Close your eyes, take three deep breaths and slow your mind down. Think the slow on the first breath, think about centering yourself within the power of the universe on the 2nd breath, and on the 3rd breath, think the words calm and peace. It works!

as

The best way to get a in great positive mind set each morning is to say everything you are thankful for while driving to work. We all have bad days but we all have something to be thankful for which in turn will start you on a positive mind track.

Jeff Shore

Hold on there - I don't need any managers getting on my case!!!!!! : )

jalksne

That was awesome. I'm taking the day off.

MariaRose

Every morning, I set my alarm 20 minutes earlier than I need to get out of bed (and before everyone else is awake). Then, I sit up, light my candles, and meditate for those 20 minutes (the key is to sit up so you don't fall asleep again!). I clear my mind and visualize my soul being recharged like the candles I lit moments earlier. When I actually get out of bed, I am so much more focused and calm and centered. No matter what my day has in store for me, I know that I will be able to handle it, as opposed to getting off to a frantic start, and having that snowball throughout my day. I used to make the excuse that I didn't have time to take this 20 minutes each morning, but believe me, once you get into the routine, you will not know how you ever lived without it!

JR

I have a few quick break tricks:
1) go sit in another salesperson's office and talk about what they've done for fun lately (anything but work)
2) go out and grab a chair on the back patio and watch the golfers for 5 minutes
3) when the negativity is really hanging over the office (we usually have 5 or 6 salespeople on floor), I'll get in my car and go out to one of the empty lots that has a fabulous view, and stand on it with the sun shining down on me, revelling in the beauty of nature and what's really important in this life.

Buckslayer

Me I like to do a devotional, it only takes a few minutes and it gets my mind back in a right place. I love Psamls 23 where it says "He makes me to lay down in green pastures." Now think what sheep would not want to lay there but it says he makes me to. Some times it seems God has to break my leg to get me to slow down.

Jim Adams

Very timely post Jeff. Much easier said than done; but much needed for sure. I will be doing my best to slow down and make sure I don't miss this wonderful Christmas season. I'm helping April do her Christmas baking today instead of working :)

georgehartman

I get up, put my coat on, and walk down the street a half block away to my inventory homes. Talk to the neighbors on the way if they are out. Breath in deeply and think how blessed I am to be able to help others and get paid to do it.

Jeff Shore

Great comments, all. I particularly love Gilbert's admonition that we "pump the brakes". A great picture of still driving but not recklessly. I also love the mental escape represented by "hitting a tennis ball against a wall." Very childlike in the imagery.

The Bible says, "Be still." Stephen Covey admonishes us to "sharpen the saw." Jim Loehr talks about mental escapes. Most religions suggest meditation in some form. All offer sound advice to counter the go-go-go mentality forced upon us by our culture.

I'm wondering - anyone have ideas for how to creatively take a break in the middle of a sales day? Just a few moments to calm down - any ideas?

georgehartman

These are words full of deep meaning. It is easy to recognize and agree with their wisdom; yet oh so difficult to abide by. There are so many Biblical references that take both sides. But I figure if God needed to rest, (see Genesis 2:2) how could I possibly think I have more stamina than He. The story of the tortoise and the hare, shows that the one who kept plodding along without rest, eventually wins. So we think if we rest we will lose the race. Don't lose sight of the real lesson. It is not so much that we must never stop, but that we should be CONSISTENT, rather than bursting out of the gate like there's no tomorrow, only to become LAZY before completing the taks at hand. We are all looking for gratification for our efforts, rewards for our diligence, recognition for our results from our family, friends, colleagues, and supervisors while maintaining a healthy respect from ourselves for our integrity and accompishments. Balance is the key. Do not be deceived by the Eveready bunnie battery commercials. They do NOT really keep going, and going, and going. They eventually need to be recharged or discarded and replaced.

Judy Walton

Humans are much like batteries when it comes to producing power. We can choose to be the rechargeable ones-just rest on the charger for awhile so energy can be restored. Or we can be like the ones that eventually get tossed-they have nothing left to give. That's called "burn-out"-to prevent this is to doing nothing for awhile as suggested in this article.

Buckslayer

I agree that we need to take time to rest and be still. Phones are one thing that drive me crazy they are a tool that tells us we have to stop all other things to get it right now.

I have lost a sister and a mother to cancer and I can tell you that when you go through that process you learn to take time for you. The people with Hospice where grat and they gave me one piece of advise that I will treasure. Treat this as a marathon, not a sprint. We need to pace ourselves.

Look back at the bible and God told us to rest one day a week, now the funny part is when we get the day off we all, me inculded go 99 miles an hour. I make a list of all that needs to get done. But some of the best times have come sitting on my swing upstairs reading a book or walking around the block with my wife hand in hand.

Ed Barber

I agree. We have all this technology to "help" us when most of the time it only lends itself to more multitasking. My definotion of multitasking is basically doing a series of task at one time, sharing one common denominator, they are all being done at no better than 50% effort/result. I have checked out for a day and I will tell you it is almost like getting lost in the woods without the fear.
Ed

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