Daily practices that move me from busy to ease
Of all the pained problems advisers bring to my doorstep,
The greatest – by far – is their sense that they’re drowning.
Stress levels are high. The team’s stretched and wound tightly.
By their faces, their voices, you can tell they’re not clowning.
As we look at their patterns of work and of living,
We find that they’re trapped by a myth so seductive.
It’s the illusion that busy-ness is a badge of success! So
How do you create ease, yet become more productive?
I’ll share with you what I’ve been forced to discover
When change and life’s dramas push me right to the limit.
When I’m forced to consider what is truly essential.
As opposed to what holds ego’s longings within it.
What’s important grows clearer when I’m immersed deep in nature.
When I give my mind space for undistracted thinking.
For trees, they don’t hurry, and they’re designed to soothe us.
When I’m there my soul soars and my body’s not sinking.
And I’ve late rediscovered the creative power of playing.
When we’re released from the wheel of the goal we chase after.
When we’re teased to relive the creativity of childhood.
When was the last time your team’s work produced laughter?
I’m forever surprised when I take time for swimming,
(“I’m 10 again!”) you’d think it would cost my work dear.
But my experience teaches (and the research supports me)
That my thinking – after playing – is more creative, more clear.
I create space to slow down when I curb my technology.
Being constantly plugged in can become such a drug.
With the phone out of reach my mind’s laser beam sharper.
I feel peace, I feel calm. My mind’s freed from the fug.
I used to admire those who could drive themselves brutal.
“Lunch breaks are for wimps! Eight hours sleep for the weak!”
Now, white space in my diary frees my mind and my body.
Now my senses catch whispers of the answers I seek.
These lessons of ease, grace and insights came slowly.
I wish I’d learned earlier. But Quick Learner’s not my boast.
And the greatest of blessings that have been granted to me?
It’s the space to listen more deeply to those I care for most.
It’s the space to listen more deeply to those I care for most.
