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The Joy Diet by Martha Beck

I just started another Martha Beck book called The Joy Diet, and I LOVE it! The book covers 10 daily practices you can implement to increase your happiness. I'm on practice #4 and have already started applying what I'm learning.

The first principle was the art of doing nothing. For at least 15 minutes per day, Martha encourages readers to simply do nothing at all. For overachievers, go-getters, and red type personalities, this first practice is challenging. Fortunately, this wasn't the first time I've learned about the power of doing nothing. Over the past couple of years, as I've been studying mindfulness, Buddhism, and the Tao Te Ching, I've come to appreciate the art of simply "being."

I'm not great at chillaxing, but I'm better than I used to be. I enjoy pondering on my commute to and from work. I have been closing my book more often on my walks so I can just look around and soak it all in. The other day, I took a 15-minute break to just lie on the tramp and feel the warm sun on my body. I ended up falling asleep for a bit, and that was quite the treat.

There really is something powerful about doing nothing, especially when you've been conditioned to always accomplishing something. I find that by non-doing, I'm doing more than I can accomplish by continuing to "do," Taking a break is energizing and enables me to come back to the task at hand with renewed focus and energy.

Plus, by sitting still and tapping into the silent chambers of my soul, I'm able to discover things about myself my constant motion has been hiding. It's exciting what I'm finding!

Thank you, Martha. Practice one is getting done!



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