Scheduling Serenity

There’s nothing better than being given the time to think.

You’d expect it would be something we would always have – a right of some kind.

If only we weren’t punished for daydreaming, maybe we could pick a career before being shoved off into the real world. Maybe we would realize that potatoes are just as good without frying and change the world. Maybe we could trade in our shoes for bare feet and stop pretending.

When I was a kid, I was stuck up there. Some home-like place between consciousness and the dreamworld. When my sisters made fun of me at dinner, I held the fork up to my eye and pretended the prongs were jail bars. I dealt with it mentally and moved on. To this very day I still hold my fork up as a coping strategy learned simply by daydreaming.

Shouldn’t it be required that the whole world take one break at 2 in the afternoon, like they do in other countries? Since when did we not have time to breathe? Since when did we have to make time for that? I hold so tight to this schedule that I forget that I’m not a robot. I walk through my front door and find myself chanting words of eat, sleep, and work before the week is even over. I’m vegan, doesn’t that attach some kind of peace and tranquility stereotype? Take up organic and take up the serenity of the world – right?

Wrong.

So let’s change that. How? With one hour. One hour of positive thoughts. Call me a hippie, call this magic. Some say positive thoughts can cure all of our illnesses, others say it greatly alters the things and people around us for the better. Truth is, if we can’t take one hour to just think about the things that make us happy (and it is that simple), what does that say about us? I’m not asking you to stop what you are doing and put your career, academic, or personal world on hold. If you are washing the dishes, wash away. If you’re at the gym, chisel those abs – no one is stopping you. All I’m asking is to think of exciting things, things that make you smile and laugh. Yes, 60 complete minutes of strictly what your favorite smell is, where you would go if you could go anywhere, that smiley sigh after waking up from an incredible dream, what it feels like to be needed without obligation, the people you would die for, the hilarious – yet embarrassing – experiences you had with them. Whenever anxiety, worry, frustration, etc. start creeping their way in, just leave the scene. Walk away and clear your brain with a breath and even stronger positive ideas and memories. I’m not asking you to push all your happy thoughts until you get that one hour. I’m asking you to train yourself that you do not need those negative clouds popping in your head. One hour of strictly positivity will be difficult for lots of people – it doesn’t mean we are depressed, just conditioned differently.

Animals don’t think 2 years from now, they think in the now. What is the point of planning years ahead if we can’t guarantee that we will even be here? At night I always ask myself one thing: If I died in my sleep, would I be satisfied with what I did today? You don’t have to travel to the Bahamas to be happy – you can find it in your daily life. One hour of pure positivity can help remind you of what is worth your while. What is worth your soul’s while. So I encourage you, I urge you to do this with me. One hour everyday for one week, and if you don’t find a difference in anything you can take that hour and return it to your schedule.

Time to think should be a given, not a reward for finishing things early.     

Tell me, what will your hour consist of?