Peacefulness, Despite My Restlessness
It is an excruciating challenge to remain actively silent.
This is a herculean task because we are so deeply educated to be constantly active, always pursuing a new goal, and endlessly moving around. No wonder the body needs so many hours to recuperate from the exhaustion of our daily chores.
Anyways, this almost unattainable quietude can be understood as a direct result of the way we were raised.
Meanwhile, do not misunderstand that this thought is a praise to laziness, because it is not, rather it is a criticism to our infamous and tiring lifestyles whose outcomes hardly add any content or value to our growth, to our emotional maturity or to our peace of mind.
So, the aim of this thought is to exalt the glorious calmness that opens the gate between our existence and our innermost and subtle enlightening urges.
Basically, most of us struggle to remain in a relaxed mindset even for less than minute without being prompted by an almost uncontrollable urge to do something…anything…like checking social media updates, switching on the TV, or the radio, getting up, walking towards the fridge, opening it and staring at all the goodies perplexed by the fact that you don’t know which one you want to have, mainly because you literally don’t want anything, but because I can’t stand the existential boredom that propels me to aimlessly move around.
Now, it is important to know that such a behavior springs from an undeniable, yet questionable, feeling of discomfort, or dissatisfaction with oneself, which almost forbids a person to remain at peace with herself.
So, if this is the case, what to do if I want to start having quiet and peaceful moments with myself?
Well, to begin with, avoid fighting the restlessness when it wants to get you up and about purposelessly. In other words, just acknowledge it as a natural response to “habitual behavior”. At the same time, avoid severely judging yourself for not being able to stay still.
Now, even if the fidgety impulses wish to remain, you can caringly watch it as an outsider until the urges naturally dissipate, for no urge lasts forever, i.e., you can watch those yearnings and impulses with the same “witnessing” capacity that you watch a movie. This attitude grants you a space to be the observer of the emotional triggers rather than a mechanically programmed actor that constantly reacts to every capricious emotional demands.
Then, the more you gain that space, the more you can go back to a relaxed or meditative state of mind.
And, if you persist on these efforts, your whole body, mind and senses will eventually be completely reprogrammed to a new, inspiring, and fulfilling habit, i.e., being at peace, despite all the possible internal and external restlessness.
How to cite this Thought:
Cargnin dos Santos, Tadany. Peacefulness, despite my Restlessness.
