DAY 26: STILL STRUGGLING TO FIND TIME TO MEDITATE?
A final truth that can help you magically create more time.
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Hi %%FIRST_NAME%%,
We often end up feeling guilty about taking time out for ourselves, even for something as beneficial as meditating. This can happen whether you’ve got a busy life, with family, work, friends and others that you normally give your time to, or if your time is your own.
Taking time to do things for yourself, having ‘you’ time, is something we’ve allowed ourselves to be conditioned to believe is bad. And yet, if we don’t take this time out to recharge; to reconnect with that inner still point; with that inner peace and happiness, the huge risk is that we’ll experience burnout. And then we’ll be absolutely useless to those around us. In fact, we’ll become a burden.
If you think about batteries, we wouldn’t expect the batteries in our camera or phone, to keep working forever and ever and ever, without recharging them. We pay attention when the warning light tells us they’re running low.
Yet when we put the batteries on to charge, we don’t resent them; we don’t tell them off; there’s no “How dare you run out of energy, batteries!”; we don’t try to talk them into feeling guilty! And we all know it’s much easier to top up the charge levels before they get too low – and before we need them for a big event.
Yet we do very little to charge our own batteries, as we go along. We wait until they go flat, until we have flu, until we have sinusitis, until we have something that really knocks us off our feet and into bed.
Regular meditation, mindfulness and deep relaxation practice can transform your energy levels.
Meditation can reduce your stress levels. It can help you feel happier and calmer. You will find that you are recharging your batteries as you go along through life.
This happiness and this sense of calm become contagious to those around you, so that those who need your help will enjoy the experience of being around you even more. And you will enjoy sharing your time with them, because you know you are topping your batteries, every day.
So why on earth do we allow ourselves to feel guilty about taking those ten minutes?
If you are genuinely finding it hard to accept finding ten minutes a day for yourself, it’s an issue that is important to look at. If you find you’re not really interested in meditating, that’s absolutely fine! I suggest you give yourself a break and stop trying. Or, if you do want to meditate and you’re still not finding the time, there may be deeper issues running. Perhaps you need to pump up your ‘why’? (Remember the ‘How to stay motivated’ exercise in the 28 Day Meditation Challenge home page?)
You – and your health – are worth ten minutes a day. You’re worth so much more than that. And you don’t have to jump through any particular hoops to meditate; it’s simply about choosing.
I choose today to take the time to meditate… because…
… Remember your ‘because’ from the beginning of the course?
Remember why you’re doing this and accept that it’s absolutely OK to take time out for yourself. Then just do it! Don’t bother about waiting for the ‘right time’ or the ‘perfect conditions’. Just do it! You know you’ll feel so much better afterwards.
And here’s where to share your experiences on this one – and to find out how others arehandling the challenge of finding time to meditate: How do you find time to meditate?
I really hope you enjoy today’s meditation.
Day 26 Affirmation
My health and happiness are worth ten minutes of my time. I choose to meditate today.
Namaste,
Clare
P. S. Tomorrow we’re looking at how to keep yourself motivated, beyond the 28 days.
P.P.S. The key links you need for week four are:
Online Forum:
https://www.clarejosa.com/forum/28-day-meditation-challenge-online-course-1/
Week 4 Meditation:
www.28daymeditationchallenge.com/home/#week4