Time, Isolation, Resistance

This is one of those iPod shuffle moments I warned you about– some thoughts from today instead of posting the next in the series.

I just finished watching the Netflix streaming series Orange is the New Black last week. (A fantastic show, watch it if you haven’t already!) A part of the theme song, by Regina Spektor, keeps rolling through my mind as I go about my day: “taking steps is easy, standing still is hard…you’ve got tiiiiiime!” Yes, standing still is hard, especially when you have to stand on only one leg. And yes, I have time. I am trying hard to see that as a gift. It is difficult to do so everyday.

This week I have been particularly isolated. It is my own choice and if I am suffering because of it, I am the only one responsible. I consider myself an introvert (an INFP to be exact) and have always felt comfortable being alone. Being alone frequently recharges me and I’ve always had a rich inner life. The other side of the coin is there is a limit to how much alone time I have before it starts to affect me adversely. After about 4 days of isolation, the party in my head gets louder and louder and I begin to become morose. Over the past few days I’ve felt like a trapped animal. It’s as though I’m a tiger in a cage without the ability to pace, of course. It has been raining which is good for introspection, bad for cabin fever.

What you can’t see is that tiger’s leg is elevated on the back of the couch.

Luckily, people are checking up on me and I am making plans to get out of the house. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to have friends come over and also get you out of the house. I have been really busy with organizing material for this blog, reading tutorials on how to use WordPress, reading tutorials for how to make a successful blog and signing up for Twitter, etc. This has taken up most of my time this week. I have made lists like I did when I was working of what needs to be accomplished each day in order to maintain focus. My goal is to keep balance with mind, body and spirit. Right now, my job is to do creative projects, learn skills, exercise my body and contribute to the world everyday.

It is the time between working that my mind wanders and I can start to feel lonely. I resist reaching out to people and alleviating the loneliness. I think this is because, in part, I feel like I should be strong enough to endure isolation. The problem with this thinking is that we are social animals and we need human interaction. It is ingrained into our DNA. Some people need more contact than others but it is intrinsic to our health to socialize with others. Mark Sisson has a great post about Social Wellness and how it is essential to our well being. I know that I get the most out of my day when I see friends in person and am able to connect with their energy. While email, texts, phone calls and social media are all a fair substitute, I get the most out of live human interaction. It rejuvenates me and makes me feel energized and optimistic.

Eating healthy with friends last week. One of my favorite ways to take care of myself.

This is something that I need to consider just as important as healthy eating and exercise. Just as I sometimes resist doing those, I resist interacting with friends in person. When I realize that I am resisting something, the first thing I do is write out an action to combat the resistance and do it. I used to ponder why I was resisting and found that was just another way to resist. Action is needed first, then once I am moving forward, I can think about it while I take action. It doesn’t have to be a grand action; something small to get rid of the inertia is all that is needed sometimes.

What do you find yourself resisting in your life? How do you break through that resistance?  What action will you take today?