When it comes to our existence, our daily survival, it comes down to us doing three distinct activities for our survival. These 3 actions include: “doing” something, “thinking” about something, or we’re doing absolutely “nothing.”
The first mode of action is that we’re always “doing” something on a daily basis, this could be doing our jobs, doing our daily chores, doing hobbies, etc. The second mode is that we’re always “thinking” when we’re doing these activities, which includes anything that occupies our mind and time.
The third mode of action is doing “nothing,” just being, relaxing, this without a care or stress in the world. What’s been realized is that we don’t spend enough time doing nothing. This great news for some.
This state of mind which is doing nothing or just “being,” occurs when we’re inactive and have absolutely nothing to do. During these times, our brains are at complete peace, and not noisy and chattering away with constant blabber.
During these times of doing nothing, we’ll spend more of our time observing, paying attention to our surroundings, or reflecting back to our previous life experiences. We enter this flow state when we’re taking a walk or jogging, doing fitness related activities, or during meditation or yoga. This is the state of mind which allows us to fall asleep.
Just Take A Chill Pill
But what our society expects and admires is us “doing” and “thinking,” and less of just doing nothing. This since doing something and thinking are the motivators for achievement.
Thinking allows us to solve our problems while coming up with new and exciting solutions. If we’re faced with a problem, we’ll usually think about it, and then solve it. Doing something, anything, keeps us busy, while enabling us to reach our goals, becoming more productive, while earning a living and becoming successful.
But doing nothing, just chilling out is considered unproductive and lazy. It equals someone laying on the couch wasting time. Most wonder what the point is just wasting all your precious time vegetating and doing nothing, when you could fill this time with achievement and productive activity.
The Need To Relax
This constantly doing nothing however is proving to be misleading. On a spiritual level, it’s considered extremely beneficial to spend more time to just relax. What doing so does is it regenerates our energy, gets us back in tune with ourselves, while reconnecting to the world around us.
When it comes to achievement, it’s now considered that doing nothing can also be extremely beneficial. Being in states of inactivity allows the creative process to flourish and manifest itself.
What chilling out does is it allows new insights and inspiration to flow. It’s during these states of mind that new ideas and solutions will suddenly come to us, usually unexpectedly and out of nowhere.
It’s known that writers will begin to write, scientists will suddenly envision a new breakthrough, songs are written, problems which has perplexed will suddenly find an answer.
The silence of the mind is known to be the breeding ground for inventors, for those who are able to develop new ideas for revolutionary new inventions.
This creative process is usually blocked however because we’re to busy doing things, or thinking too much of irrelevant things. In order for these ideas to emerge, it’s required that we empty out our minds and do nothing.
The Formulation Of Ideas
This is the reason why the greatest of discoveries, the best inventions, all of the creative breakthroughs in the history of mankind isn’t the result of a busy mind, or logical thinking. They’ve come forward by doing nothing.
It’s known that all these bright ideas have on the majority occurred by pure unconscious intuition, or by accident, usually in states of complete relaxation.
But society dictates that we work longer hours, this to earn more money which keeps the economy going. For most, what doing nothing means is that there’s no production.
The greatest creative works of the world were all inspired and conceived during moments of relaxation and inactivity. The greatest of songs were written where there was nothing but quiet flow, no stress, and the melody begins to manifest itself.
Adopting A New Attitude Of Inactivity
What all of this illustrates is that we all have the wrong attitude when it comes to doing nothing. So there needs to be a mind shift where the current thought is that relaxation not be viewed in such a negative light.
Just “being” should be seen as a stepping stone, an essential when it comes to creativity and invention, while also for enhancing our well-being and improving our mental stability.
All of the brilliant new thoughts and ideas come from deep within our unconscious minds, and to bring these thoughts to our conscious mind, what we need is complete relaxation. These ideas come to us whenever we open ourselves up to accept these thoughts.
So to progress in our lives, be it personal, creative, spiritual, or of collective development, it doesn’t always lie in doing more activity, or working harder longer hours, but spending more quality time doing nothing.
It lies in more relaxed states of mind, a calm mind which enjoys more leisure, more empty time of remaining stagnant. This blank canvas is useful as long as we ensure ourselves to fill this free void with ideas, rather than always thinking or doing.
What we’ll find is that it can transform us from being tired and boring, to becoming happier, with more innovation and creativity. This by offering more contributions to making ourselves and the world a better place.