Sitting and staring at a wall

This week I’ve a lot going on. We’re working on building some fairly big things at work from the ground up, I’ve started exercising again (mainly for this) and then all the other miscellaneous life things that happen to all of us. When we came in from our young couples house church last night, my brain couldn’t turn off. Then I asked myself, did I want to turn it off?

I thought about it while on the train ride home from work yesterday. I looked around and saw everyone around me with their nose in a book or their phone or tablet. Then I found myself not being able to sit still long either and pulled out my Kindle Fire. Because the 15 minutes of idleness my train ride gives me is just too much.

Flicking the “Off” Switch

So last night, I sat in an arm chair in our living room before going to bed. My dog jumped up in my lap and I just sat there, pet my dog, and stared at a wall.

I’m not sure what I thought about. If anything. I do know it was totally relaxing. I may have sat there for about 15-20 minutes just blankly staring at a wall, scratching Theo’s head.  I didn’t pull out my laptop or open a book, just sat still.

You know what? When I went to bed, I was remarkably relaxed and fell asleep quickly. I woke up this morning with a clear head, hardly any stress and questions I didn’t have answers for leaving the office yesterday suddenly became clear when I woke up.

Sitting still – not just physically but letting our brains sit still – is underrated. Sometimes we need to shut down, even if it’s just for a few minutes. When my computer overheats, the best thing I can do is turn it off. My guess is that our brains require similar maintenance.

There’s even research that says zoning out is crucial. 

So, if you see anyone blankly staring at a wall, they may not be crazy. They’re just recharging.