“Rolling Things Around” in Your Mind

A few days ago, I wrote about 5 free gifts we can give ourselves. Originally I planned to write about 6 gifts; the 6th was give yourself time to think. But I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to say about it, so I focused on 5 gifts and gave myself a bit more time to think (!) about this one.

Here’s what I finally figured out – our lives are almost completely filled with technology, activities and noise. We’re always “on” – on the computer, on the phone, on the go with the kids, on duty at work or home. As women, our roles as wife and mother, plus all of the other hats we wear, absorb an amazing amount of our mental and physical energy. It seems impossible to slow down, turn off and just take time to think about important things.

This process – of taking time to think about things that are important to us – I call it “rolling things around” in your mind.  I picture thoughts as balls, like these balls of dough – being rolled and shaped and formed. And most of all, being given time to develop into something wonderful. And I suspect that few of us take time to do it.

You might call this process ruminating, “kicking ideas around” or “turning things over” in your mind. Whatever you call it, give yourself this gift of time to think – about your dreams, ideas and plans. Worried that you don’t have any dreams, ideas or plans? I bet you do – it’s just that you haven’t slowed down enough to recognize them.

So how can busy women create the time and space to “roll things around” in their minds?  It isn’t easy, but it can be done. It requires creating some quiet in your life, often by re-purposing time to create space to think. For example, I’ve found that I can “roll around” things that are important to me, like ideas for blog posts and other writing projects or plans that my husband and I are contemplating, by turning off the car radio. Rather than catching up on the news or listening to music, I use driving time to brainstorm ideas, outline articles I want to write, or think about plans we’ve been discussing. I haven’t created any extra time in my day, I’ve just decided to use a block of time in a different way.

You can do something similar. Find times during your day when you can enjoy a few minutes of quiet, put aside mundane problems, and let your mind turn toward a dream, interest or plan. Roll it around in your mind and see what happens. Make a note if something really jumps out at you, and come back to that thought later. (I’ve had to pull over a couple of times to jot down an idea that I really didn’t want to lose!)  Try it and see what happens – I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Do you “roll things around” in your mind? How do you make the time and space to do it. I would love to hear from you – please share your thoughts in the Comments. I also would love for you to  subscribe to Calm.Healthy.Sexy. by email (enter your email address in the sidebar under Subscribe to Blog Via Email). Thanks. Gaye

Sharing with Messy Marriage, To Love, Honor and Vacuum, Katherine’s Corner, Prowess and Pearls, What Jean Likes, Think Outside the Blog, Nanny to Mommy and Holley Gerth.