There is an old Taoist philosophy that there is great wisdom in doing nothing.
But.
How will I get enough money? How will I go to the store? How will I plan my vacation? What about the people who are suffering and have no food? What about taking care of my kids? What about all the problems in the world? Do you think my boss would like it if I came in to work one day and suggested there is great wisdom in doing nothing?!
What are you talking about?
Doing Nothing is IMPOSSIBLE!!!
Well, before you scare yourself half to death with the very idea of doing nothing…perhaps explore it a bit further?
Many people, when they hear about doing nothing, think of loss.
Lying down on the carpet and letting people walk all over you. Getting bamboozled. Resignation.
Pictures of staying in bed all day, walking out of their jobs and then having no money to pay rent, not mending a relationship…
…things getting run down, like a house where you do nothing, no repairs, no upkeep, no cleaning, no maintenance.
Giving up.
But what if throwing your hands in the air in frustration and anger, or sitting on the couch, or not answering a letter or phone call where someone has reached out to you, or forcing yourself to stay on a diet, or quitting your job…..
…..is actually Doing Something?
Because it kind of is, you may notice.
So what is doing nothing….really?
I’ve found magnificent wisdom in it, a wisdom beyond what I ever could have actually planned out, if I had automatically done something, as usual.
Here’s what I mean.
Something happens. Your husband is leaving you. You lost your job. A friend betrays you. People break into your house and steal everything. You get cancer. Someone close to you dies.
Almost immediately you have adrenaline course through your veins, then panic, shock. You want to run, or freak out. It feels horrible.
The normal regular everyday usual conditioned thing is of course to DO something!
Run for your life. Crush that person. Get revenge. Complain. Rage. Buy stuff. Sign up for more courses. Claw for solid ground.
You are in absolute wild chaotic reaction. Terrified.
Then maybe when you calm down just a little, you decide to get even. You feel like a victim, like it’s not fair.
What if you did nothing?
What if you couldn’t believe 100% that this is terrible, you are in danger, or that there is no possible way you could accept this situation, ever?
It doesn’t mean you aren’t afraid, when you are. Or murderously angry, when you are.
You just don’t have the absolute conviction that you must do something. A part of you waits. It feels what is happening now.
“Where are your hands right now? Who put them there? Did you do that? And then, no matter what your thinking is, you–it–moved again. Maybe it moved your foot. Maybe it swallowed, or it blinked your eyes. Just notice. That’s how you enter not-doing, where everything falls sweetly into place. The miraculous life of not-doing has an intelligence of its own.” ~ Byron Katie
What I notice is…I do not have to believe my thoughts. I do not have to believe in terrible futures and dreadful pasts. Right now, here, is unfolding without me controlling any part of it, really.
Not anything.
And oh surprise. When I let go and open up my hands, stop demanding that I do something or that someone else do something or that God or the Universe do something….I see things happen all by themselves.
That’s actually the way of it, the way it goes. Things never freeze or stop in one place. You do not have to worry. You do not “have” to do anything.
If you aren’t too sure about this yet, just sit down or go on a gentle walk and be still. Don’t listen to everything your mind has to say. Notice what’s there besides your thoughts.
Relax, relax.
“From within or from behind, a light shines through us upon things and makes us aware that we are nothing, but the light is all.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Much Love, Grace