One Step Closer to Peace

The other night I found myself awake at midnight. Wandering the small floor plan of my home, I felt the specific and interesting sensation of calm that occurs within those quiet hours. I remember a client describing those hours to me once while they explained why they liked to stay up late instead of sleep. They named that there was such a peace to knowing you were the only one awake in your house or even in your neighborhood; that stuck with me.

When sleep eludes me, I try not to let my mind wander too much (a wise person once told me that nothing good happens in a brain awake from 2-4AM), but in this occasion I found myself alone with my thoughts and drawn to my living room after getting a drink of water.

There is so much to think about these days. So many things crowd my mind and I often feel rushed to have an answer to it all immediately. The thoughts pill up and beg for attention; hundreds of TVs running at once, tangles waiting to be painstakingly combed through, etc…

When these thoughts crowded me that night, I stepped quietly towards my living room and settled myself on my floor, the force of the grounding was immediate, and my body brought be back into the present moment. My sweet dog slowly padded his way to me and settled against my side, my hand automatically petting him and scratching behind his ear.

As my breathing slowed and the floor seemed to harden underneath me, I was able to say to myself:

I don’t need to know the answer right now.

It was this solitary thought that seemed to allow me to slowly turn all of the TV’s off in my mind until finally it was just me in the darkness, on the ground, with my dog.

And as my mind quieted, I sat back up, moved my way to my bed, and finally fell asleep.

It’s easy to feel rushed; it’s much more challenging to slow down and actually let your mind find neutral. I’m wondering if you can consider that…maybe that question doesn’t need to be answered, maybe you don’t need to sort through that worry right now; what I’m saying is, let your mind off the hook and see what happens when you create an internal boundary with your own thoughts.

I hope this message helps bring you closer to peace.

xoxo,

Amy