Often life situations give more challenges than inspiration to many of us…
Someone has lost the job and current economic situation scares the hell out of him…
Someone’s relationship feels more like an addiction rather than a partnership…
Someone has lost his life in a game of cards and sees no tomorrow…
Someone’s broken heart is bleeding for months and numerous healing attempts are simply not working…
Someone’s soul is roaming around helplessly trying to find out its true purpose…
At a certain moment of life all of us find ourselves in situations with no obvious solution. Trying to find a way out feels like walking in an endless dark tunnel with no sight of calming light at the end. The more effort we put the more hopeless we feel…
I’m not an exception. I had quite a few “headaches” in my life: to quit the job or not to quit; to end relationship or give it yet another chance; to risk it all or to play safe. Once, while being in such a crossroad, my dad gave me a weird (as it looked like) piece of advise, he said: “Wait, don’t make any decisions just yet. Go, get some sleep, enjoy something you like and remember, the solutions to all the problems come naturally by themselves”. Right… It sounded so unbelievable and so too good to be true. I honestly wanted that by the touch of my wishful thinking all the problems went back to where they came from and I lived happy ever after.
The time has passed but I live following my dad’s advice. The difference is that now I realize the true meaning of it and I’ve identified the hidden agenda behind this “go, get some sleep”.
We all know the common law of attention saying that everything you focus your attention on will grow larger and larger in your own awareness. This means that if you place your focused attention on a problem it will become a worldwide crisis for you in just a few moments. And it is incredibly easy to get stuck in allowing it to affect everything you do – taking a shower or going on a date. We kinda put our life ON HOLD until the solution is identified and implemented, naively expecting that the earth will stop turning for that little while. The thing is that the harder we try to find the fix the more none-existent it seems. Why? Because our brain gets so tensed from the constant and intensive thinking “about the same” that it does not have neither time nor capacity to generate new ideas. It becomes similar to an engine that works 24/7 and is about to explode.
When you don’t know what to do – do what you know: make yourself a cup of tea, go for a run, start drawing, do a jigsaw puzzle, go cross-stitching. In other words – do whatever that (1) requires concentration and (2) your brain KNOWS how to do! For example, if you go for a run you know that first of all you need to find your sports gear, then change, then choose a playlist then decide where you wanna go and so on. Your brain knows exactly what needs to happen and in what sequence and therefore it does not need to work extra hard to figure out “how to”, meaning, it can relax and, without any additional stress or pressure, it can do something it knows the best – generate brilliant ideas. Just like that, naturally.
Have you noticed that Eureka moments find you when you’re not “too busy”? Have you realized that the best ideas and answers come to your mind when you’re singing under a shower or do something of “no significant importance”? Yes, all the fantastic ideas and the most creative solutions come to your mind when no additional pressure or constrain is applied. On the contrary! The best results are always achieved when everyone is allowed to do what they know the best. It’s not only applicable to your body but to another human being as well.
If you feel stuck or uncertain today; if you seem to find no way out of the sensitive situation; if you have problems requiring immediate solutions but your head feels emptier than ever; if the fear is so big that you are not sure how to survive tomorrow – go, get some sleep or make yourself a cup of tea. Put yourself into a resourceful state simply by providing your brain with the best accelerator – freedom to do its best!
