Sit still for just a few minutes. I dare you. Easy, right? Well, no actually. Totally and ridiculously impossible. What’s wrong with us? Most of us don’t know how to be alone or, even scarier, quiet and alone. Turn on the TV, play music, make phone calls, text…anything to avoid being quiet and alone. Because, after all, what happens when we are still?
“Sometimes you need to take a break from everyone and spend time alone, to experience, appreciate, and love yourself.”
Our minds might go wild, telling us things that just simply aren’t true. These non-truths can be different for each of us. For some it can be, “I can’t do it. I’m not going to get good grades. I have no idea how I am going to do this. What if I don’t get good grades? I am fat. I am ugly. I am not worthy of…Is he/she cheating on me? Am I going to get fired? I don’t know if that person likes me……..” This list can go on and on.
Our ego is there for a reason. It keeps us distracted so we don’t have to feel pain. Which sounds good, right? The negative voices in our heads are what I now refer to as ‘The Gremlin’. (I did not come up with this but it fits perfectly, right?) Many of us will go through life allowing our ego to “save” us from feeling any pain. Sometimes all we can hear is the sound of our own voice banging around in our head. Sometimes you need to be alone. Not to be lonely, but to enjoy your free time being you and yourself.
Usually, not always, we get in our own way more than anybody or anything else. Think about all the times you have been offered a job, a promotion, asked out on a date, told you were a great writer, accepted into a grad program etc…and how often have you thought, “I’m not qualified. I’m not good enough. I have really been fooling everyone. I’m an imposter. Why does he/she like me? What’s wrong with them?” Those thoughts are just your Gremlin getting in the way of you being happy, and succeeding. They are simply not true!
I have found that, by working through those gremlin voices, I am better equipped to handle many different situations in life. The more I distracted myself to keep them at bay, the more power they held over me. The only way to quiet those voices was to face them head on and give them space to run their course. Stillness helped me to notice the voices, call them by name, and challenge them with truth.
“Everyone has a talent. What is rare is the courage to nurture it in solitude and to follow the talent to the dark places that is leads.” Erica Jong
The process did not come without a LOT of hard work and deep digging. Without making the change to sit still and be uncomfortable, and really pay attention to how I was feeling, I would not have appreciated how truly wonderful life can be in spite of difficult situations.
“We need quiet time to examine our lives openly and honestly…….spending quiet time alone gives your mind to renew itself and create order.” Susan Taylor
It’s important to live every day in a manner that you believe will make you feel good about yourself and your life. So take the time to drop your phone, put your notebook or computer down, sit, and breath. Face your fears of silence head on. Get to know yourself from the inside out. You never know what you might discover.
Meet our nutrition Supervisor/Mentor and Office Manager Anne. She recently got her first dog and is madly in love. Murphy came from the Butte Humane Society and is a lab/retriever mix, probably with a bit of pit in him. Murphy and Anne love going on walks and hikes, and Murphy loves chasing squirrels. They hope to do a back packing trip next summer. Anne loves to cook for friends and family. Cooking is an activity that truly relaxes her. Anne is originally from Oakland, Ca. Whenever she gets a chance she is racing off to the water to kayak or paddle board. Anne has travelled extensively throughout Eastern and Western Europe and has seen some of Central and South America. She can’t wait to explore the rest of Central and South America, maybe as an RD?
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