What if we all need time away?

I’m part of a lot of organizations. That happens when you’re committed to the power of community. You get into communities for business, communities for health and wellness, communities for personal growth, communities for healing, communities for recreation. The communities I’m part of all love commitment. They think it’s awesome. Some of them have it in the rules, about committing, and some of them don’t. But the idea is that you’re here and you’re not going away.

You know, like family.

Well.

Except that one time.

And that uncle.

And….

 

And when I look around at all those communities, the ones stuffed full of amazing and beautiful and wise people, they have something in common. Whether it’s in the rules or not, a lot of people take time away.

I’m one of those people, when I join up I always think, “I’ll never do that. I’m going to be in this for good, for life, for ever. I won’t need a break.” And for whatever reason, I have incredible staying power. I don’t usually need a break. I can withstand a lot of things and still keep my seat.

But even then, sometimes I’m better when I take a break. I have more resources. I have more grace. I say fewer things I regret later. I have better ideas.

And then I was listening to this Abraham-Hicks recording this morning ) , where she says, “Stop beating the drum of the problem…the solution cannot come when you are beating the drum of the problem….”

And I thought, wait. What if this is what happens when we get into a community where we believe a problem lasts forever and we keep beating the drum of that problem?

What if our continued focus on the problem keeps us from moving forward?

And what if the only way out of that trap is to allow time away?

What if we need to step away so we can learn to focus on something else, so we can really allow the wound to heal? And what if, once healed, we can come back, healed, with a perspective that looks beyond the problem that brought us through the doors? What if this is how we find the path forward?

What if we need time away? What if as leaders, as elders, as family members, as just PEOPLE we all need our rumspringa, our time to step outside the context of our usual frame? What if that stepping away lets us focus on being more whole?

What if that is the way to bring wholeness to the group?

What if?

 

PS: if you’re thinking of some community you’re a part of and your first reaction is to say OH NO!  WE CAN’T DO THAT!  I ask you to breathe and really LOOK at the leaders, and ask yourself if any of them have taken sabbaticals.  And then ask yourself how insular or wide-reaching the group is.  And I don’t do flame wars.