LEARNING HOW TO LET GO OF THE ON/OFF SWITCH

It is generally understood in our culture that there is a vigilant state of doing that stands in contrast to a passive state that is resting. This way of doing is seen through the lens of our productivity. The various non-active states of rest are frequently seen as points to either collapse within and/or be non-productive. An exhausting paradigm created through a lens of living that dictates our goal as seeking to be as productive as possible. Often without conscious consideration of our health or well-being. 

When we are ON, the notion of approaching the tasks of living, first and foremost, through a place of ease is largely seen as unfamiliar or strange. For example, when I encourage students to take pauses in their day they usually see this as a recharging point so they can continue to be “ON” until their next recharging. When I point out that yes, recharging within a pause is important, there is also another important function of the pause. It is reclaiming one’s observer as a way to bring ease and/or god forbid, relaxation, into one’s endeavors. The practice here is that approaching life through ease opens doors to creative life force, one’s creativity and in turn, one’s productivity in life. A productivity that is measured differently though. The measure being of how one is approaching one’s labors, rather than the sole measure being how much did one get done.

I assure you, for more than half my life, I knew the ON/OFF switch very well. Again and again, it was me pushing and prodding myself and others through activities that disconnected me from the joys of life and left me feeling undernourished and exhausted. This pattern is so endemic in our culture and so devoid of vibrancy that it has led to ever increasing degrees of procrastination. An odd yet significant linkage to the pattern that is many a time unseen. That procrastination is repeatedly born of the absence of ease and joy within life’s endeavors.  

Gradually, over time (and by time, I mean years), I began to practice life with greater and greater states of ease. The sense of the ON/OFF paradigm began to soften. With less and less anxiety, worry, frustration and sadness inhabiting my being, the ON/OFF switch has slowly disappeared. In its place is a sense of sharpened focus on what truly matters in my life. This result has led me to the strangest of conclusions about bringing ease to one’s endeavors. I get a lot more done today doing so much less. To let that sink in and begin to apply it to one’s life is nothing short of a revelation. To be relaxed, focused, well-rested, joyful and productive has so much to do with how we practice our lives and in many ways, much less to do with what we are doing. I am not de-emphasizing a sense of connecting to life purpose or calling; I am describing an inner path of connection to that sense of purpose. A purpose that may be vocational but has more to do with bringing a vibrancy to living that mirrors a healthy inner life. 

What is your version of the ON/OFF switch? How is it reflected in the above blog and how does it differ?

What emotions do you associate with the pattern of either being intensely on or apathetically off within yourself?

What does your inner voice, the quiet one, want to tell you about the ON/OFF pattern?