They say it’s the season to be merry, and hopefully for most of us it will be. However for many of us, it is surely also the season to be busy. Through all the booking of holidays, inviting of friends, remembering all the cards, buying all the presents, preparing for all the guests; in one way or another we all will be left wishing we had Santa’s super powers to help us make it through the festive period. In some ways it's as if the Winter weather also beings with it a hurricane of sorts, spinning our lives around for a few days or weeks while we adjust to a new mode, then readjust back to normal life again at the end of it.
It might feel, therefore, like this is the least likely time for self improvement but, in fact, as with all times of stress and strain, the reverse is actually the case. The truth is that the strife we experience at Christmas is indeed an opportunity for self help. Whenever we feel pressure or stress of this nature it is a chance for us to reconnect with ourselves.
How? Well, at times of turbulence in our lives, it actually becomes easier for us, in some ways, to stop and feel our inner pain. This is a pain we all feel - the price of being alive if you will. An existential pain that accumulates through our lives. This pain then becomes a gateway to our inner world: One in which we are experiencing life at the deepest level; a level beyond thought or words.
The way to access it is through stillness.
When you are in the midst of another whirlwind day or week; juggling tasks, people and plans, find a moment to sit in the centre of the storm and feel the weather (i.e. the tension and strain) inside. Sit on your own, take a few deep breaths and listen to yourself with your whole body. Watch the thoughts, images and impulses that pass through your mind and the feelings and pressures that pass through your body. Be the observer of yourself, if even for a single moment. Do this as many times as you can and you will begin to know yourself better. Start the journey of self improvement in this way and it will surely be the best gift you’ll receive this Christmas.
Article first published as Christmas 'Tis The Season To Be Busy on Technorati.
Saturday, 18 December 2010
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