Stop and forget, you'll accomplish more...Try this...

After a very productive, yet intense day... I fell asleep exhausted.

I woke up tired.

Mind chatter began to belittle me for not achieving more.

It made me feel anxious (that's an understatement)! 

Noticed my immediate reaction - get busier, drown out and stop that damn voice.

But it only got worse. Made me even more anxious and stressed inside.

The angel mobile hanging in my stairwell has been a touchstone of lightness and calm for the last eighteen years. But it got all tangled up a few weeks ago, keeping it from flowing freely in the breeze. This morning, as I was untangling the knots, I responded to that battling, belligerent belittling mind chatter assuring it that all would be fine, and that like the knots, little by little all the tangled threads would surely be worked out.

The mind chatter didn't like that. It shouted louder.

But then I did something surprising...

I stopped.

I forgot about the nine additional tasks I set to do before leaving the house.

Instead, I stopped and lay my back upon my bed. 

I listened to the badgering voice.

I acknowledged it and gave it an internal hug.

Something shifted.

Deep within, I felt a bit more at ease. 

When your inner critical voices push you to "do this, do more, be more... blah blah... you get the picture (it's not a pretty one :-)... how do you respond? Do you argue back? Compete?  Give up?

Amazingly, I discovered a simple quick recipe for restoring my sense of inner calm when experiencing 'anything but':

1) Stop.

2) Forget what the critical voices are trying to say.

3) Acknowledge them by LISTENING COMPASSIONATELY, but NOT RESISTING them.

It took less than two minutes.  I had more energy to complete my tasks at hand, and most importantly, I felt fulfilled and satisfied during the process.

Stop. Forget. Acknowledge. Listen.

Simple. What a concept! (Even the mobile got untangled :-)....

Where will you apply this today?

Share below. Your voice makes a difference.