Sometimes what we need is a time out. Not as a punishment, but as a break. We don’t need to be in the now, we don’t need to find something to make us happy, we don’t need to figure out the next thing, we don’t need to examine our feelings, see if we’re meeting expectations, take another step towards the goal, make progress, be there for others, pay attention to what we’re thinking or doing… We just need a time out.
Time outs happen when the brain turns off. When we do things because that’s what’s happening in the moment instead of what we had planned. When we realize we’ve been sucked down the YouTube, answered the siren song of cat videos, been cleaning and doing household things instead of what we said we would, played video games for hours without realizing it, let our bodies take control. Time outs happen when the rest of us steps in and takes care of us instead of following what our brain says we should do. And we feel not guilt, we feel no lack, we don’t feel anything at all because our feelings are taking a time out too. All that emoting, negative or positive or both is just exhausting. Let’s give it a rest.
There will be plenty of time tonight, tomorrow, in the morning to be feeling and thinking again. For today, its time for a time out. Let’s give it a rest, take a break, let go, let the world go by. It’ll still be here when we’re ready to get back to it.