Saturday, May 27, 2023
Eckart Tolle, one of the world’s most influential spiritual teachers, spent nearly two years just sitting on park benches watching life go by. He recognized that that period of his life was also important too, not just becoming an author and sought-after speaker. It was a rest in the symphony of his life, so to speak. The silences and the gaps can be just as meaningful and restorative as activity. Life is like a great symphony – there are dramatic pauses, and those rests are an integral part of the whole piece. But they never last “forever.”
Orchestral musicians understand. There are sections (or entire movements) where they have to wait and count multiple measures of rests before they are called upon to play again. Let’s not overlook these rests in the score. Not everyone can play at once and at the same time. It’d be one, loud, cacophonous mess, a torture for the eardrum.
There will be downtimes in your life. In those moments, be OK. There will be great crescendos in your life too, so be OK with that as well. Don’t manufacture music if there isn’t anything written in your part. Don’t force yourself into the action if none is to be expressed. Unemployment will turn into employment; singleness will turn into companionship; no productivity will turn into productivity; quiet will turn into noise; and so on. The seeds are planted, and you cannot force them to grow. Enjoy the downtime. Catch some sun; be in restful solitude; ride your bike; visit a friend; and enjoy getting to know yourself. The countdown to reenter is on the way. The countdown to rest may also be on the way. Listen and enjoy the duality of both. Trust that the great composer is shaping the music perfectly, bringing out the ebb and flow in all that you do and all that you are!