This is what I do when I feel like doing nothing

A couple of Sundays ago, {{first_name}}, my family and I were making our plans for the day. We usually do our cleaning on Sundays and we were talking about some other things to do as well. My husband, Paul, said, “So what do you want to do today?” 

Many ideas flashed through my mind, but what came out of my mouth was, “I don’t want to do anything. I want to do nothing.” That was followed by a surprise visit of a cascade of tears that I didn’t even know were in there. 

Being the amazing guy he is, Paul said, “Well, why don’t you just do nothing? What does that mean?”

With trepidation, I shared what I would have rather kept secret because it felt embarrassing. In the spirit of authenticity, though, I said, “I just want to watch movies all day long.” I had never done that and it felt so… irresponsible. It also had a glimmer of deliciousness, though. Could I really give myself permission to lie in bed and watch one movie after the next? 

Well, no. But Paul reminded me that it would be a good idea to pay attention to what was showing up and to honour it. Of course, I had said the very same thing to several clients, earlier in the week. (I even wrote a couple of blog posts about it.)  Isn’t your own medicine hard to swallow? Especially when it’s letting yourself off the hook and embracing the idea that easy is ok?

I’ve said it many times, and it’s worth repeating again. You teach what you need to learn. Duly noted. There was clearly some more room to grow here.

So guess what I did? I did the hardest thing for me, which was to watch Netflix all day. I watched one with Paul (Like Father - loved it). I watched one by myself because nobody else wanted to watch it (Penelope - loved it). I watched Honey with my son Oakley (gotta love a good dance movie) and I watched another one with my daughter Zoe (Ladies in Black - super loved it).

It was DELICIOUS! 

At one point, I went for a walk and did a little reflecting. I noticed that I was feeling disappointed in myself because I wasn’t going to accomplish anything that I deemed “worthwhile”. (Namely, anything off my heroic list of things to do.) So I decided to let go of that fallacy, because what I was accomplishing was self-love by honouring my energy and not trying to push it to be something else. 

In the past, I’ve done the pushing through thing and boy, does it not work at all! Over time, I noticed that pushing through actually makes the energy dip last a lot longer.  

So here’s the thing I shared with my clients that I then also got to experience with my day off. The secret to a more fulfilling and rewarding life is to receive and embrace. 

In this case (with Paul’s help), I received the message from my whole system that a day with no crossing things off the list would be an excellent idea. There was a very clear moment where I could have chosen to go either way. At that point, I did the hardest thing because that had the growth edge. (You wouldn’t think that taking it easy has a growth edge, but it really, really does, especially for us highly productive, high energy types.) 

Then I embraced the challenge whole-heartedly. I didn’t dabble. I didn’t bargain with myself. I didn’t say, “Just get your cleaning done and then you can reward yourself.” (I’m not saying that’s not a great strategy, sometimes. I do that kind of thing a lot, but in this case, it wasn’t the solution. As you get to know yourself better and better, you get more refined at noticing the nuances and what strategy will serve in each particular situation.) 

Now here’s the really interesting part. The following week, some amazing things happened that I link directly to my marvellous day of nothing: 

>On Monday, I felt completely refreshed and ready to go again. 

>Significant amounts of unexpected money showed up. It was like the Universe was saying, “See, when you take care of yourself, I take care of you.”

>On a purchase I made, I received a huge surprise discount at the till. 

>My parents treated the whole family to a takeout picnic in the park. 

>I felt delighted and joyful every day after.  

And all that happened with no effort on my part.  

I share this story in hopes that it will inspire you to get curious about what happens when you give yourself a break when your energy is low. What happens when instead of pushing through, you receive and embrace? If you’re courageous enough to do the hardest thing (choosing easy once in a while), how will the Universe surprise and delight you? 

On your next energy dip (which is totally normal by the way, because everything in nature cycles, including your energy), why don’t you see what happens if you do nothing? Especially if that brings up some uncomfortable stuff. It’s really the best when you’re growing and expanding and raising your vibration by choosing easy. 

Then you just sit back and receive the abundance that Universe will pour out to you for having the courage to honour yourself. 

Here’s to easy! 

With effortless love and copious courage, 

Christina 

Creator of Courageous Self-Care

Proud Watcher of Netflix

Powerthesaurus Enthusiast (I use it for every single blog post!) 

PS - Ever struggled with Jealousy, Judgment and/or Comparing yourself to others? I used to as well, until I came up with strategies to totally transform those habits into opportunities to be kind and gentle with myself. I’ll show you how in this month’s Self-Care Masterclass on Friday, June 25th. Mark your calendar. More details next week.