Life is both simple and complicated, depending on any given
day and where you are in your perspective in handling day-to-day events.
Sometimes all hell can be breaking loose, but you have the
ability to laugh at yourself and be grateful for what is vs. what isn’t.
Other times, you are tending to your daily grind on an
auto-pilot mode unable to see the forest through the trees.
There are moments where you may feel like erasing your slate
clean, starting over and beginning something new.
But how do YOU define your REBOOT LINK?
What do you consider to be your way of recharging your life?
This is a complicated question to ask yourself if you don’t
know the answer.
Sometimes, you have to tell yourself that it is okay to not
have an answer, because you’re still upgrading your own personal software in
your being to define that for yourself.
Keep in mind, what ‘used to work for you’ – may not work
anymore.
That coffee break or walk in the park may not be exciting to
look forward to anymore, simply because you have outgrown that particular
reboot button.
What?
Yes.
Don’t believe it?
Think again.
As a child, rebooting from school stress might have been as
simple as playing a game or sport.
As a teen, rebooting from stress might have been as simple
as hanging out at the mall with your friends.
As a college student, rebooting might have meant partying
with your friends and socializing while hiking.
As an adult overloaded with more responsibilities, those old
methods of rebooting may not necessarily work for you to the degree they once
did.
Problem-solving when it comes to stress may be a bit more
complex now, leaving you with your old default reboot techniques producing less
than desirable results when you choose decompress.
So why is that coffee break and walk in the park not
working?
Today, your brain is more fragmented and chaotic processing
so much information.
It is not all your fault. Our brains are re-wired with technology, social networks, emails, mobile devices and with so much happening in the ‘real world’ news, politics, economy and within our communities, shutting off may not be as easy as it used to be.
It is not all your fault. Our brains are re-wired with technology, social networks, emails, mobile devices and with so much happening in the ‘real world’ news, politics, economy and within our communities, shutting off may not be as easy as it used to be.
Therefore, rebooting ourselves may not seem like it is
enough. This may be why that coffee
break or walk in the park is merely a blip on your everyday radar and has
become less satisfying. If you are
taking that coffee break surrounded by others talking about business, you can
never really get away from work. If you
are walking in the park with earbuds in your ears, there is no silence or true
solitude to ‘think.’
If you happen to work in an industry which requires you to
be around people all of the time, chances are outside socializing and being
‘on’ to hear about everyone else’s problems and drama isn’t going to give you a
break to reboot, even if they are your nearest and dearest.
Rebooting yourself and your space is tricky in adult
life. Obligations and responsibilities
are different from the time when you were a child.
As a child, it was easier for you to go play outside or
quietly color in your coloring book without interruptions, stress or worry
about what you were missing. You were
more ‘in the moment’ doing what you needed to do without being preoccupied
with other long laundry lists of things ‘to do’ with reminders in your
calendar. It was easier to put your
fingers in your ears and sing “la-la-la-la-la” to tune out negative noise.
Today, we are thrown into a pool of noise around us no
matter where we are, even if we are merely commuting to work or school, noise
is around us before we even get to the destination we are intending to get to,
where there will be more noise. This is
why it is hard to ‘be present.’
However, while meditation is recommended – not everyone can
shut off their brains during meditation to get the quiet time they need in
order to decompress, reboot and refresh their minds. We are not all wired the same way.
Take note of your quiet time as you get it in pieces and
acknowledge what works best for YOU. Some people find peace and quiet in the
most mundane tasks, because they don’t have to think about anything.
Silly as it may sound, folding laundry or fixing a broken
object, petting your dog or cat, re-potting a plant or washing dishes by hand
may provide the ‘check out’ time you need to reboot because you are not
concentrating on anything else but the task at hand (literally). You are doing
something you’ve mentally programmed yourself to execute, however, the ‘mental
noise’ is set aside in order for you to concentrate on what is in front of you.
Many may find peace in this type of reboot replacement if
yoga, meditation, Zen walks and other methods have fallen short. Yeah, this doesn't work for everyone.
Sometimes all you need to do to reboot is
right in front of you, but you just may not have examined a daily task this way
before because you’ve categorized or compartmentalized it as a chore. Remember ... this is how you were 'programmed' as a kid - you were shown what 'chores' are and you processed that idea as 'work' that you did not want to do.
But what if you decided your chores were not a pain in the neck and instead these chores were your sanctuary and peace away from other noise in your life? What then?
Is it possible to see your once labeled 'chore' as a respite away from chaos, drama, stress, and noise?
Is it possible that washing your (car, clothes, dog, windows, etc.) could be like washing away the residue and toxicity of draining energy, dirt and grime from your day?
The answer may surprise you!
If we redefine that ‘chore’ as a necessary obligation and
tweak that LINK to become something beneficial for our psyche, we just may find
more peace and space to reboot ourselves like a vacation from noise just when
we need it most, without disrupting any routine within our day.
It is here we will no longer use the excuse
“I don’t have time” to take a break, because we can find a way to take breaks
within something we already do by redefining it as a place to do so.
You can discover peace and quiet just about anywhere if you choose to change how you LOOK for the place to find this quiet refuge.
However, sometimes it isn't just about LOOKING... it is about listening for the silence in what could be considered an unexpected and unconventional golden moment to refuel, refortify and reboot!
You can discover peace and quiet just about anywhere if you choose to change how you LOOK for the place to find this quiet refuge.
However, sometimes it isn't just about LOOKING... it is about listening for the silence in what could be considered an unexpected and unconventional golden moment to refuel, refortify and reboot!
Namaste.
