Meditation does a lot, but here’s one you might not hear that often…

If you’re not religious, skip this post or continue with an open mind.

(Hint: It will be valuable for the non-religious too)

I was reading my Bible when the topic of busyness popped up in the “notes” so I’ll paraphrase what I got out of the discussion:

“Is busyness next to Godliness?”

(Non-religious can substitute “Is Busyness the answer?”)

Most people are just too busy. This is a point for quick agreement, but the subtle danger involved in our busyness is that most of us never stop to realize that in most cases we can do something about it.

Too many people feel like helpless victims where our work and activity schedules are concerned.

What is actually important? How much of this activity is God actually instigating? How much of it is the consequence of your own bad judgment?

A woman’s ego often pushes her into a whirlwind life of busyness.

If you are capable and if people adore you and heap compliments on you every time you overwork yourself with tasks, even volunteering your time for this or that, just be wary.

It is easy to mistake the voice of flattery for the voice of God. Especially if you’ve been busy for so long, there hasn’t been a really quiet time to hear God speak.

We must slow down to listen.

Non-religious translation: Busyness is NOT the answer to about 99% of your questions or problems. It’s difficult to hear your highest self if you don’t take the time to listen and slow down. (FYI: Flattery doesn’t mean you’re on the right track either.)

How many times have you been at a crossroads and wondered, ‘What should I do?’ Or Suddenly been faced with a difficult reality and frantically asked yourself, ‘What am I going to do?’

And then what follows is frustration, helplessness, anxiety, racing thoughts and we finally move on to something that keeps us busy never really solving our ongoing question about what we should do when we don’t know what to do? Sometimes we remember to turn to God.

But it’s nothing if we don’t…

Listen.

Slow down.

Get quiet.

And listen.

You’re not listening to your thoughts or to others but to your heart. Your soul. Your highest self. Your intuition. God.

Before meditation, listening was my worst nightmare because I was listening to a stampede of thoughts that robbed me of my peace and direction in life. I was unable to listen to anything else…above those thoughts. I was praying and a lot was coming out of my mouth…my brain was unloading, but I rarely listened. It wasn’t until I could hear my own heartbeat in meditation that I realized I had not been listening all that time before.

I guess I figured if God had something to say, he’d hit me over the head with a 2×4, but honestly I thought the answers to my questions would show up much louder. That is not the case.

I kept practicing meditation and answers came. I stopped asking. I let it be. I surrendered control over my thoughts and they gradually improved. They were from a higher source. And I listened.

You can walk with Him. You can Talk with Him, but you also need to listen to Him.

You can manifest your deepest desires and call upon the universe to share your desires, but you also need to listen for feedback.

Busyness in our brain translates to losing focus, becoming severely overwhelmed, stressed, and consistently making poor decisions. You miss an opportunity because you were too busy to notice.

Within yourself, whether through God or not, you can find every answer. You can find purpose and guidance. The more we forge on in stubborn busyness, the more we run out of answers because our busy self is limited. It is full of your ego’s impulses and urges. It is not very enlightened or connected to anything higher than your to-do list.

At a crossroads in my life recently, someone asked me what I was going to do. And I thought I’ve already done a lot. I think I’ll just be. And perhaps listen…

Peace and Be Well,

Laura