You’ve said what you needed to say. You’ve done what you could. You’ve made the call, sent the message, had the conversation, taken the action. Now you’re waiting for something outside of you to move. And waiting can be uncomfortable and hard.
Because your mind doesn’t know what to do with all that energy, it starts looking for something. You replay the conversation in your mind and imagine different outcomes. You check your phone. You try to read between the lines. You make a plan, then another plan, then another one, just in case. Anything to feel like you’re doing something.
I’ve learned that these are the moments when I need to come back to the most basic things.
Eat. Sleep. Drink water. Take a shower. Go outside. Move my body. Clean my house. Make something warm to drink. Feed myself. Go to work. Tend to the things that are right in front of me.
This is where Ayurveda makes so much sense to me. I come back to dinacharya: establishing a daily rhythm.
Consolidate daily practices around waking, cleansing, elimination, eating, movement, work, rest and sleep. It sounds incredibly simple, and that’s exactly why it becomes so useful when life gets complicated.
When you have no idea what is going to happen next, you can still know what you’re doing when you wake up tomorrow. Keeping your commitments to yourself, especially during a challenging time, gives you a sense of achievement.
Get out of bed a little earlier and tend to cleansing your body. Move some energy through your body with a walk, dance, or physical training. Prepare and eat a real meal. Step outside and let your eyes stretch toward the horizon and sky. Take a few minutes to reflect on your blessings and goals. Journal whatever is on your mind. Give attention to the work that belongs to today and fully engage in that work. Come home, make dinner, freshen up your space, and wind down for sleep.
There is something incredibly grounding about having a reliable rhythm to return to. Especially when your mind wants to make uncertainty the center of your entire existence. When you can’t control the big thing, create rhythm around the things you can.
One thing happens, and suddenly everything becomes about that one thing. You’re waiting for the relationship to resolve, the money to come through, the person to call, the answer to arrive, the situation to change. Your attention gets completely captured by something you cannot actually control. Meanwhile, your actual life is sitting right there. Your dog needs to be fed and your plants need water. The laundry needs to be folded and the bathtub needs a scrub-down. The sun starts to set and your body needs surrendered rest.
There is a whole, beautiful gift of life happening. Come back to that.
This is where I think we underestimate the power of ordinary things. Making yourself a nourishing meal can be an act of grounding. Taking a walk can change the entire texture of an afternoon. Cleaning your kitchen can give your mind somewhere to settle. Getting into bed at a decent hour can be a form of self-trust.
You don’t need to figure out what happens tomorrow. You need to live immersed in today. There will be a time to make the next decision when you have more information. Until then, take care of yourself so you are energetically resourced to meet whatever comes next.
Sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is keep living while the answer makes its way toward you.
