The last couple of weeks my energy levels haven’t been particularly high. It hasn’t quite reached crash level, but I was struggling to keep to my baseline. It’s very likely to do with season change which is probably a little later down here in the south of Spain than up in the UK. But the cause doesn’t really matter, I realised I was having to push to get what I normally get done, done and pushing is never good!
So I decided to experiment with the ‘do what I feel like doing at any given time’ principle and see if I could get by. It was tough! I often had thoughts of ‘you out to be doing some work now or you won’t earn enough this month’ or ‘you should really do that washing up’. I felt like I was being really indulgent, relaxing and reading every time I felt like it, even when I knew I had work to do. I found it even harder to let myself not do my afternoon yoga, even when I really didn’t feel like it.
My motivation was low as well as my energy and I had to bat away my thoughts about feeling as though I was being lazy. I wanted to commit fully to seeing what would happen if I listened to my whole self in every given moment, if I went with the flow and let go of the tyranny of the ‘shoulds’.
I have to say it was a resounding success. I got all the urgent work I needed to do, done and enough of the non-urgent but income providing work to keep me afloat. The washing up got done every day even though I only did it when I was feeling like I wanted to do it. I did my afternoon yoga 4 times in two weeks which actually seems quite a lot when I consider how unmotivated I felt in general. And I went for 3 lovely country walks. I still meditated every day, although generally only for about 10 minutes instead of 30. OK, I didn’t get a blog written last week, but was that the end of the world?
And I rested lots, and I didn’t crash. Although the low motivation hung around a while and I was sorely tempted to try and get a hold of myself and impose some strict self-discipline, I felt I wanted to continue with the experiment and see what happened if I just gave myself time. And here I am writing another blog. My motivation is rising and I had enough energy to go for a lovely long walk yesterday (2 miles+), and I still feel great today.
I know that my thoughts will keep nagging me and telling me to be more self-disciplined, and that I need to be more productive but I’ve discovered that the messages of my wholeness are completely trustworthy. I don’t have to listen to my thoughts in isolation. Doing what I feel like doing is the best thing for my organism as a whole!
Could you experiment with the ‘doing what you feel like doing in any given moment’ principle?
Could I ask a favour? Could you rate this article using the stars below the related posts? I’d be really grateful, thanks!
