ALONE

How long has it been since you spent a little time with yourself?

I mean completely alone.
No TV on, no talk radio blaring, no computer game in front of you.

I am talking totally, completely, and absolutely alone.

Alone...
With only your thoughts to keep you occupied.

I want you to try this right now.
Turn off the iTunes.
Close the door so no one can bother you for a few minutes.
Shut the dog in the yard or the bathroom on the other side of the house.

It has to be as quiet as possible, I have found, for this to be successful.

Now, for about 5 minutes, try to think only about yourself.
Not what you are going to make for supper.
Not the deadlines for projects you have not even started.
Not what your husband/wife/children are doing.
Not who is mowing their grass outside your window.

Just you. YOU!

Close your eyes, if you need to. Turn off the light. Just do it for 5 minutes. See if you can make it that long.

Ready...

Set...

GO!

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How'd ya do?
Did you make it for the full 5 minutes?
It's hard, isn't it?

Well, on the way home from China, I spent about half the time completely and totally alone. Although I was stuffed into that plane, like sardines, with 400 other people, I still felt absolutely alone.

Ten hours of only concentrating on me.
Ten hours of thinking about where I had been and where I was going.
Ten hours of nothingness.
Ten hours of demons screaming through my brain.
Ten hours of deafening silence.

I was stuck in my own mind, wandering around in there, desperately searching for clues to thousands of unanswered questions.

It was maddening! It was exhausting! It was even a little depressing!

But, interesting enough...

It was also refreshing! It was full of hope! It was comforting!
I learned things about myself that I never knew before.
I am strong. I am fearless.
I am independent. I am able to trust.
I am capable of anything I put my mind to.


SO...
When you find your life out of control... When you can't seem to touch reality... When you begin to drift into emotional chaos...

Take a little time to spend with yourself, totally, completely, and absolutely alone.