Be Days

By reading some of my posts, it’s easy to see I spend a lot of time thinking about things. Being a five on the enneagram, I am always in my head. That has its advantages, but I can easily tie myself into knots. 

Years ago my good friend Greg recommended Eckhart Tolle’s book, The Power of Now. I found it most helpful along with his book A New Earth and Nothing Has To Be Done by Jeff Nirenberg. There is no way I could begin to explain these books in a short blog post. However, I can summarize by saying they have helped me become more present and realize there is more to life than thinking. I learned the value of Being.

When our daughters were in high school they had different schedules on alternate days. They were called A days and B days. I decided I needed more Be days in my life. On Be days I focus more on Being and less on thinking. Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays are now BE days for me. I found I needed some guidelines for Being. Here they are.

Rule number one, no beating myself up. As I have said in other posts, everyone in the world feels like they are not enough. I’m no exception. This rule gives me a break from berating myself. I still learn from my mistakes, but being hard on myself is not allowed.

Rule number two, no trying to solve the mystery of existence. Hacking existentialism is my favorite hobby. My mind loves to work at deciphering the most complex of mysteries, why are we here and what does it all mean. It’s fun for a while, but as I said earlier, I’m the one who ends up tied in a knot.

Rule number three, resign as general manager of the universe. That means no judging people or circumstances. I have to accept life and the people in it as they are in the present moment. As the Beatles said, “Let it be.”

Rule number four, be present now. That means keeping my attention on the present moment.

Rule number five, keep it simple. I do my best to keep things simple instead of complicating them. That also means listening to my intuition more, which doesn’t come naturally to a five.

Doing this at least three days a week gives me a needed break from the exhaustion my mind produces by its addiction to thinking. My girls always liked the schedule of one day better than another. I much prefer Be days. 

May you have enough today, one moment at a time.