When Restlessness moves in the very first step in the right direction is … to rest. In case that isn’t patently obvious, which it quite often isn’t with me.
Restlessness is a state in which a million thoughts and feelings collide, without settling, constantly flitting, one to another. They flit so quickly, that it can take a while to even notice that it’s happening.
Upon noticing though, the way forward, I find, is to say to oneself…
”Ah that old chestnut! It’s OK. No rush to get out of here. It’s the rushing that’s keeping me here. Look, I can’t even see what is beneath this little cyclone of mental activity at the moment. Something is. So just slow down. Yep. Nothing to get sorted. Just stop a moment. Ah, I see … that thing has floated to the top. I think it’s that which is bothering me. Or anyway it’s the one I can see. Well the good thing about THAT thing, is that it’s not EVERYTHING. Which already feels more manageable. And, actually that thing is something that I can look at or let go of, like everything else. But it’s a lot easier to look at or let go of on it’s own, than it is to attempt the same with everything else”
And, really, by this point the restlessness is gone. It’s not possible for it to remain. Because I’ve narrowed a million down to one. Not by working through them all, but by simply accepting the situation of restlessness as it is. And then selecting the one thing that comes at me first.
One at once is really the only way I have managed to find rest.