Undoing something (doing nothing)

What doing nothing is not

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If you think you know what I mean by "doing nothing," you're probably wrong.

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It's much easier to distinguish doing nothing by saying what it is not, rather than what it is:

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• It is not relaxing.

• It is not daydreaming.

• It is not meditating.

• It is not mindfulness.

• It is not dozing.

• It is not sleeping.

• It is not trying to get to sleep. 

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What doing nothing is and the "difficulty" in doing nothing

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Doing nothing is a waking state in which your mind continues to operate automatically without any intention to accomplish anything.

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As such, it's impossible to do nothing by intending to do nothing...since that contains the opposite of what you're trying to create. In this way, the difficulty of "doing nothing" is similar to the difficulty of trying to get to sleep, since trying to get to sleep will invariably keep you awake.

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Doing nothing is actually the easiest thing in the world "to do," yet it's completely unknown or quite elusive to most of us.

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Yet, I've found that it's possible to set up an environment in which doing nothing is more likely to occur.

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First, make sure it's okay with your Next if you "waste some time" and that it's okay to forget about anything that needs to be done or anything that you want to think about. You might set a timer so you can more easily allow yourself to forget about whether it's time to do something.

 

Second, if you notice any worries, concerns, shoulds, stresses, or pressures, consider undoing fear with, "Holy cats and jeepers creepers, I'm so scared of wasting my time by just doing nothing." 

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Third, sit in a chair comfortably. You could keep your eyes open, but I find it preferable to close mine. Giving yourself full permission to do nothing, from time to time, you'll notice that you're doing something, like imagining what you want to say to uncle Harry. Fine. Just notice that. Then, from time to time, you may notice that you've been doing nothing.

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What does undoing something have to do with creating integrity between Now and Next? I leave that for you to explore.