The Wisdom of Doing Nothing

Sometimes, the most productive thing that we can do is to do nothing at all.

We are always in such a hurry to do the next thing, especially those of us with dreams and ambitions and goals. We've got some place to go, and we know that the only way to get there is to keep making progress. So we push on. My brother and I have a saying about this that cracks us up. It is a syllogism, an illogical statement couched in terms of logic:

I must do something.

This is something.

Therefore, I must do this.

 Sure, it's easy to laugh now, while you're sipping coffee in your big puffy chair; but when you're in the midst of a critical moment, when you're just certain that what you do next will make or break you, it's easy to forget that sometimes it really is better to do nothing at all.



When life becomes chaotic and things are going differently than how you would like them to go:  when your relationship is falling apart, when conflict arises at work, when someone you love is headed down a self-destructive path, it is very common to become convinced that you need to do SOMETHING to change things.  In those instances, you get an idea of what might help the situation and since your idea is, after all, something, you go for it.  Doing something is better than sitting around and doing nothing, right?  Wrong.

We tend to get attached to particular outcomes.  In our head, we have a vision of how our children should be acting, how our partner should be acting, how our work should be going.  We get confused into thinking that just because we want something to happen a certain way means that any other way is just plain wrong.  We get angry when things try to unfold in a different direction, and we step in and try to control the situation.  We try really hard to make things go our way.  That's when we tend to get into trouble.

One of the most difficult things to learn is recognizing when to step out of the way and let events take their own course.

Therefore the Master
acts without doing anything
and teaches without saying anything.
Things arise and she lets them come;
things disappear and she lets them go.
She has but doesn't possess,
acts but doesn't expect.
When her work is done, she forgets it.
That is why it lasts forever.
...
Practice not-doing,
and everything will fall into place.
(from Tao Te Ching)

Today, I'd like to offer a clue that might help the next time you find yourself frantically pushing forward.  Stop.  Become still within yourself, and just stop.  Take no action whatsoever, and just wait to let the situation play itself out.  Become the observer, and stop trying to pull everyone's strings.

When we are in the flow, following our heart's true path, things are easy.  Work is effortless, and our hearts are light.  When things become complicated and hard, it means that we have lost our center.  When that happens to you, stop.  Let go of all of your pre-conceived ideas of how things should be playing out, and just observe.

Better yet, don't even observe.  Go outside and play.  Laugh with your friends.  Plant a garden.  Sing a song.  Ride a bike.  Watch a movie.  Most importantly, STOP THINKING ABOUT IT.   Just go do something else for a while.  When next you give the situation your attention, all recharged and happy, you will find that things have managed to sort themselves out without you. 

Then, you can go back to doing nothing.