There is no part of me that disagrees with the Zen Masters, the psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, life coaches – not a single soul – when they talk about the importance of stillness and doing nothing.

In fact, my wish for the entire world is that we all learn how to be comfortable in doing nothing. And I’ll go one step further and wish that we could all learn how to be comfortable in doing nothing especially in the most chaotic, crazy and hectic times of our lives. Think I’m nuts? Hear me out…

Doing nothing doesn’t come naturally to most of us, and because of that, we really are not very good at it. I know some of you disagree as your mind jumps quickly to your lazy uncle or that couch-potato in-law who seems to have mastered the art of doing absolutely nothing, but that is not the nothing I am talking about.

To the contrary, I am talking about the kind of nothing that when you are doing it, it is so deep and penetrating that it creates a space, and it is in that space that we see ourselves.

What we see in this space is the real us…the uncovered us…the us that is dying to be heard and seen and given permission to come out and join us as we live our lives.

This sighting of ourselves is the first thing we must do in order to experience true fullness. And if we are willing to continue doing this kind of nothing that reveals ourselves, then the doors get flung wide open for a pretty magnificent life.

But to do this kind of nothing, you will need to stop looking around you and start looking inside you. You will also need to stop waiting on something to happen to you and start making room for things to happen in you.

There is nothing lazy or easy about doing nothing. Doing nothing is not a waste of time. Doing nothing is not about waiting on the illusive “magic pill” for whatever ails you, or your knight in shining armor, or for your lotto numbers to finally get called! None of that will take the place of the fullness and peace that you can experience by knowing, loving and respecting yourself.

You are worth doing absolutely nothing for! Start today and spend a few minutes doing nothing with yourself and allow yourself to create a space that allows the real you to be seen.

What you do next matters.

You might like to take a look at a wonderful book by my mentor, Martha Beck. It’s called The Joy Diet,  and it’s a great resource if the idea of doing nothing appeals to you. It’s a powerful book and it has helped me do nothing like a champ!