Have you heard the cosmological argument, out of nothing the whole universe was created? You do not have to literally agree with this argument. I am just using it to demonstrate the power we believe and know to exist in NOTHING.
I have done all sorts of exercises and jobs which I thought were difficult to do but when I tried the exercise of doing NOTHING, I realized how difficult it is to undertake that exercise compared to my previous activities.
Our contemporary society has burdened us with a lot and gradually, our bodies have come to accept ‘doing’ many things at a time as the default functioning position. Therefore, doing a lot has become less difficult for us compared to doing NOTHING.
If you think I am lying, why don’t you also try the exercise of doing NOTHING in order to experience the power and wonders of doing NOTHING?
Have you ever asked why some spiritual people and seekers of inner peace practice meditation, which is not far from the concept of doing NOTHING?
In order to experience and benefit from the power of doing NOTHING, try to sit down for a minimum of one hour—doing NOTHING.
Doing NOTHING means, you cannot answer or be on your phone, watch TV or engage yourself in any activity that will keep your body or mind busy. All you have to do is sit down and relax (make sure you do not fully fall asleep) and let your mind wander without you trying to control it for a minimum of an hour.
Apart from the fact that you will get up an hour later more relaxed than you have ever been in life, doing NOTHING gives you the time to reminisce. By doing NOTHING, you will be able to assess, analyze and review what you’ve done and doing in life, whether or not you should continue doing these things. When you undertake this peaceful moment of silence, you get to see the usefulness, of doing something or anything in life.
Even though, most cultures see doing NOTHING as a waste of time and a sign of laziness/irresponsibility— creative and smart people understand that doing NOTHING offers a deeper awareness from our intuitive mind.
Science has explained that the area of our brain known as the prefrontal cortex is most active during self preoccupation. This is part of the most advanced structure of our brain and that is what separates us from other animals that cannot calculate or analyze like human beings.
When doing NOTHING, the prefrontal cortex enjoys the silence it receives and the brain moves to a deeper state where intuitive thoughts and imagination come through without being controlled, force, curtailed, judged, or censored.
This somehow explains why meditation is important to certain smart people. This also explains why we get so many great ideas while showering or half-dozing; a relaxed frame of mind is conducive to insight, bringing forth new knowledge or ideas without forcing it…
In fact, the ideas for most of my great articles come to me when I am in the shower.
Can you ever pour more water in cup that’s already full? In order to fill an already occupied cup, you must make space for the new substance. When you do NOTHING for a period of time, you create the space needed to make new things. When your brain is fully engaged or busy, its creativity is weakened.
This may not be the case for all but is it not interesting that most successful entrepreneurs started their companies after they were fired from their previous jobs and had nothing to do for a while?
Being busy working all the time and struggling to maintain your job gives your mind no rest—using all the limited energy it has.
You will not even have the space and time to think about starting your own business and this has been the case for many entrepreneurs. When they get fired, they are giving a whole lot of time to do NOTHING in life—giving them the time and energy to analyze what they really want in their lives and how to get these things.
Another great benefit of doing NOTHING is that, it gives you the needed space and time to take yourself out of the picture. You are able to sit down and watch your life like a television, seeing what others see about you and being able to consider things from the perspective of others.
When you look at the picture from far, you are able to see what is wrong, what is right, what needs to be changed and what needs to be improved. You will find it difficult to see all these things if you are within the picture, you need that moment to step outside and carefully look.
Actually, when was the last time you sat down and asked yourself ‘what must I change in my life and what must I keep doing?’ Without regular assessment, you will not know in full what needs to be addressed.
When you do NOTHING, you are forced to painfully face yourself and your concerns. It gives you the power of reflection and planning. Filling your time with something to do all the time is a perfect escape route from yourself and that is what those who fear to face things in their lives do.
Do you know that in Hindu tradition, zero and infinity are related, and that everything is nothing and nothing is everything? Doing nothing may seem as being empty without anything being done, but from the above, it is also doing everything you need in a different way.
In order to understand life and create new things or opportunities, you must constantly practice the craft of doing NOTHING. If you want to change things in your life or achieve different great results from the things you do, you must practice doing NOTHING.
Have you seen how well the train works and the limited accidents it gets compared to cars?
When the train wants to change the route it is one, it practices doing NOTHING by slowing or stopping completely before switching rails. You cannot be running your life in top speed and make changes—something most of us do.
To make any real changes in life, you must stop and do NOTHING for a period, and then start/speed up again.
I’ve not seen anything more difficult in life than doing NOTHING. And remember, it is the difficult tasks that smart people undertake, leading them to greatness…
If you truly care about your tomorrow and want to achieve greatness in life, get into the habit of doing NOTHING.
Here, NOTHING means nothing. This means having nothing to do, no agenda, no goal to achieve, no person to engage you in anything—staying off from everything that puts your mind to a busy use. Just allow your mind to freely wander.
Do not do what most people cheat themselves by doing, sitting at home and painting your nails is not NOTHING, watching TV or walking about is not NOTHING. Same way, sitting by the pool and reading a book or chatting to your friend is not NOTHING.
As Gertrude Stein said “It takes a lot of time to be a genius, you have to sit around so much doing nothing, really doing nothing.”
NOTHING means NOTHING!
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