Stop and Go

I discovered yesterday, yet again, how important it is to slow down and sometimes just stop so that you can keep moving forward.

I have a hard time stopping. I’ve written about this and talked about it before. I am always afraid that if I stop I won’t get started again.

But, yesterday I did stop and I unplugged for most of the day. It was hard. My to-do list is pretty long and I kept telling myself I needed to get to work.

I argued back with myself that I was tired and I needed to rest and relax.

Self-care won out.

And, it’s a good thing that it did.

About 930pm last night, just as I decided to wrap it up, stop reading and go to bed, I had a flash of insight. It had been building all evening as I alternated between reading and asking myself questions in my journal. I didn’t answer all the questions, but I wrote them out and just let them sit.

Have you ever had the feeling that a memory or an answer to a problem was right on the tip of your tongue, just at the edge of your mind, but couldn’t reach it yet? That’s how I felt all evening.

Then, in a single moment it was like a light bulb went on and the answers came flooding out of me. It was a huge brain dump. I was so excited that I wrote six-pages of notes for one idea that even now sends a little shiver through me.

I was awake for another two-hours, excited and restless and I woke up this morning with renewed energy, hope for the future and a head full of possibilities.

I would have never had this experience, or have given birth to this idea if I had forced myself to work all day crossing things off my to-do list instead of reading, relaxing and playing.

It’s a hard lesson to learn, to stop moving so I can keep moving, but I am open and willing to learn.

Are you? What has been your experience?

PS Today I crossed off a whole lot of things on my to-do list, plus added some more and crossed those off, too. It was a fun and exciting day.

PSS Want to know when I’ll be taking a two day break? When I’m at the Joyfully Jobless Jamboree in Austin, Texas, October 15-16, 2010. How about you? Want to take a break from your routine, relax and hang out with people who get who you are? Join me.