This is a time when many of us will be faced with the challenge of “doing more with less.” How we face that challenge provides an opportunity for choice. We may not be able to determine which challenges we face – but we may have choice as to how we face them. NPR’s Chana Joffe-Walt explains: (Audio)

So many of my clients find themselves in a perpetual state  of physical and mental activity. I too am guilty of this “gerbil-like” mentality that keeps the wheel of the cage spinning. Dr. Lloyd J. Thomas, in The Value of Stillness, sheds some light:

“The Chinese word for “busy” is made of two characters.  The first is
“heart,” and the second is “killing.”  For the Chinese, to be busy is to kill the heart.
Children raised by insecure parents often learn that the faster they
talk, the faster they move, the faster [they] think, the safer they feel.  A
moving target is harder to hit.  Such children seek safety in the
speed of their activity and speech.  They take refuge in relentless
action.  When they feel insecure about what they know, they produce
more words and share them in rapid-fire, to hide their perceived
ignorance.  Constant motion keeps them from being caught.  Relentless,
busy activity distracts them from experiencing their fear.  They are
often misdiagnosed as “hyperactive” or having “attention deficit
disorder” when they are actually trying only to protect themselves
from a frightening environment.  Their constant motion of mouth and
body, kills their heart.

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