by Tim Grimes
How we can practically do it is by being more playful and not serious with our thinking, as we’ve talked about, and we can also reconnect with it by vibing out. The less you care about your thoughts and passing feelings—which you can do in a relaxed, passive way by relaxing your body—the more easily you can be at peace. This is not esoteric. It’s practical.
Let me conclude this guide by telling you that I remember being outside of keyboarding class when I was 13 years old and talking to my friend. And I remember telling him that when I grew up, I wanted to be a bum. Now, nothing has really ever changed for me. I still feel that way. Of course, when I say bum, I don’t mean a destitute or anything like that. My point is just that I never wanted to be anything in society. Because, even though I was young, I was honest with myself and recognized that there was nothing really to be that was worth being.
Nothing culturally is the way it’s pumped up to be. You think that the prince of Monaco really has it that great? Or that athlete, or that actress, or that Nobel laureate, or that garbage man, or anybody? Well, they do have it great if they enjoy it and are at peace. If they’re happy in the moment a lot of the time. But this idea of being or becoming something special is really a sham. When we had the aspiration to be somebody special in a pure way, it was probably when we were like six years old. We wanted to be a fireman, or a ballerina, or something like that, and it was a genuine aspiration. Then we lost it.
As our aspirations change with our age, they become less genuine. And we become less genuine because we get lost in our thoughts and our ideas of what certain things will bring us. And the truth is they won’t bring us anything. There are no things, only thoughts. And they aren’t real either. So, the only thing to aspire to, if you want to aspire to anything, is some satisfaction right now. A moment-to-moment sense of peace. A very basic thing. It’s something that we likely had when we were much younger, for the most part. And something we often do not have now.
For instance, perhaps you now have the job title that you once aspired to, and maybe it doesn’t bring you the satisfaction you thought it would. You’re not an anomaly. That’s our culture. And if you do like what you do, it’s probably because you enjoy it in the way we just mentioned and hardly ever think about what you do in relation to anything else. Regardless, doing nothing—vibing out—is a rebuttal and a protest against these foolish aspirations that we have in our mind as we get older, as we grow up. It’s becoming a bum.
If you do this even for just a short period of time each day, sit down and just do nothing…become neglectful and indifferent to your thoughts and feelings, those thoughts and feelings that you’re supposed to interact with and engage in so passionately, if you disengage from all that crap and all those lies (and I only call them that because I’m assuming that most of those thoughts and feelings are not making you feel good)…if you disengage from all that crap, something comes up that reconnects you with the present because all of the external things we want—and all the bullshit we go through to get those things—is primarily just overthinking. The hamster wheel running in our head. That’s all.
When we feel good, we’re usually not thinking much. We’re going from point A to point B when we feel good. We’re never trying to go from point A to point Z. When we’re stressed, when we’re worried about everything—or just worried about certain things or feeling anxious—usually we’re trying to get somewhere complicated. Meaning we’re trying to get from like point A to point Z or point B to point Y. We’re trying to solve a problem.
But when we’re at peace with what’s happening around us, when we feel good, usually we’re just going from A to B. Or maybe A to C. But certainly not more than from A to D. Anything beyond A to D is just insanity. And insanity is how we have a tendency to operate—and it’s something that can be minimized. A great way to minimize it, and access your natural wellness, is simply to stop being so serious and vibe out a few times a day. Lightly focus on the quiet peace that’s already within you, on what you already have and can’t lose, if you want to focus on anything at all. I have a lot of confidence that just doing that will make your life better.
The less you mentally try hard to get something—the less you aspire to be someone or do something through hard thinking—the more productive you’ll be in a real way. All you have to do is keep your wits about you and act somewhat sane, which you will. You’ll also realize you only ever have to really go from A to B, over and over again, and it’s very gratifying just to do that. There’s no resistance in that. Everything is smooth from A to B, and you realize any other route really is just getting lost in your head. You can fully feel you’re accomplishing what you want when you go from A to B and that you already have what you actually want. Because you do.
Maybe some of these concepts sound familiar to you. But they’re usually made to sound more esoteric, or difficult, than they need to be. The “relax, don’t think” and “relax, do nothing” part of life doesn’t need to be made complicated or seem like something it’s not. It doesn’t need to be formalized with breathing or mantras or postures or anything like that, unless we find those techniques beneficial in making us feel relaxed. Those things can be helpful from a technical standpoint but, at the end of the day, nothing about this is technical. When we’re in a meditation hall, or trying to conjure up some mystical energy or connect with the stars, or whatever, we often end up doing a lot of unnecessary stuff. That’s because we’re concerned about technique. At the end of the day, none of it is relevant. You want to forget all about that stuff if you want some peace right now.
Don’t think. Try less, feel better. Vibe out. It’s not the way people think it should work. It’s the way it does work. And you can find out for yourself when you move around like a monkey or just lie down and totally zone out in the way we’re talking about.
For instance, I’m telling you this with an old blue Irish blanket over me. It’s 95 degrees outside and the fan is on. My daughter is sleeping because we just got home from the splash park and she’s tired. My eye stings. I don’t know if it’s the chlorine from the splash park or something else. The point being, when you’re vibing out—when you check out mentally and don’t think, and if you make it a practice—you’re not necessarily going to look like a spectacular human being or a saint on a hill. People aren’t going to come up to you and shake your hand. You might look like a bum. I mean a Hindu sadhu does look like a bum. It isn’t glamorous. Moment-to-moment alignment with what’s around you isn’t glamorous, it’s ordinary. It just tells you everything is alright, and that’s enough. That’s all that we ever really want anyway.
We so often glamorize people and things and in the process delude ourselves. We don’t do this intentionally, but we do it nonetheless. When we don’t think, we’re set straight. If it sounds odd, that’s understandable because perhaps peace isn’t supposed to look like some guy with no shirt on, a red eye and an old blue blanket over him. Or a woman yelling happily to music in her car. Or a child dancing for no reason.
But peace seeps through all the cracks and crevices. It finds its way into everything, as long as we don’t think about it. You become better in tune with what’s around you—and better things happen to you—by giving up the notion that there’s something superior to the life you’re living. There’s not. Everything is already perfect, whether you like it or not. You become at peace with the moment by recognizing that there’s nothing better than it. And you’ll feel and know this intimately because there’s a deep satisfaction when you’re just here now and not wanting anything else. That’s vibing out, that’s not thinking.
So, to sum it up, don’t think.
About the Author
Tim Grimes is a counselor and writer/editor of multiple bestselling guides on stress management, including Relax More, Try Less and Manifestation Through Relaxation. His focus is on simplifying the stress reduction process for anyone who is interested.
For more information visit:
www.radical
counselor.com