Drifting Sometimes Is OK

I posted on Facebook the other day.  Not unusual.  I usually post daily.  I have a large family and lots of friends and it’s a way of sorta staying in touch…sorta.  I need to pick up the phone more often.  And nothing replaces “face time”.

OK, so back to what I was saying.  I posted on Facebook the other day.  Here was my post.  “feeling a bit adrift.  Not knowing what’s next can be very disconcerting!”  Isn’t that the truth?  Doesn’t everyone feel a little nervous and unsettled when the future is uncertain, when we are drifting with no certain direction?

I’ll be moving some time within the next year.  Probably within the next six months.  I don’t know where yet.  I don’t know when yet, either.  Will it be 3 months or 6 months or even 8 months?  Who knows.  It leaves a lot up in the air.

And there are other changes in my life that need to take place in order for me to feel settled and satisfied with my life.  I haven’t been making the best choices for myself lately and that needs to change.  (See the first paragraph about “face time” – my friends and family will know what I mean!)

So, back to Facebook again.  (Speaking of FaceBook, go ahead and “Like” my Therese Kay Photography page!)  When I posted that, my friend Tony responded with exactly what I needed to hear.  I’ve heard it before, but this was the first time I HEARD it.  (Thanks, Tony!!)  This is what he said, “look at it another way….you can choose any direction and drifting sometimes is ok.”

Ah, the wisdom of friends…

I like to paddle.  Maybe I should say that it’s my habit to paddle. Sometimes I paddle so fast and furiously that I paddle in circles.  The idea of drifting for a while sounds so….peaceful.  (As long as I don’t think about strong currents, waterfalls, rogue waves, and storms that is.)

One simple sentence and my perspective shifted.  I love that!  I’ve written about perspective before – framing what you see, changing how you see it, or choosing what to reflect on.

Perspective can be so important in how you experience something.  And it takes work.  I’m going to work on keeping that perspective.  I’m also going to experiment with something new.  I’m going to try what I’m going to call “mindful drifting.”

As mentioned above, drifting can be disconcerting, but it can also provide a rest.  Like meditation (something I’m still trying to practice).  I’m going to try and rest in the boat and drift and observe.  Do what needs to be done (paperwork, packing, and occasionally looking at apartment postings) and just sit back and watch and wait and see what happens.

And when the right wind comes along, I’ll open my sails.

Have you ever practiced “mindful drifting”?  What was your experience like?  How did you  “rest in the boat”?