Today to be extraordinary, I am going to take breaks. I know when I need a break. There are signals.
When I dial the correct phone number and get the wrong phone, that is a signal to take a break.
When I enter the correct password and the password does not work, that is a signal to take a break.
When I begin to worry and nothing has changed, that is a signal to take a break.
When I get angry with my computer or telephone or any machinery, that is a signal to take a break.
When I am replacing a light bulb and turning the bulb the wrong direction, that is a signal to take a break.
These signals all tell me that I need to change from what I am doing physically and mentally to doing something physically and mentally different. If my work involves sitting, I need to stand up. I need to walk outdoors or to another place in the building. If my work involves standing, I need to sit down. The body benefits from these breaks, but it is the mind that needs the break. So I give my mind a change of pace, a new setting. I take a break.
Sometimes it is important for me to tell someone else, “I am taking a break.” My mind seems to appreciate my making an announcement that I am taking a break. When I tell someone else I am taking a break, I am letting my mind know that that I am creating an environment, a setting, for there to be a break. I am making a commitment to my mind. “Here I go, mind, I am taking a break.”
I try to remember that going from working on my business mail to interacting on Facebook is not a break. I can tell my mind that I am taking a break, but my mind does not accept that switching from one Internet page to another Internet page is in any way taking a break. Mentally, the subject may be more fun but the mental process is the same.
The way I know that my mind has not had a break is that, just as was the case before the break, the right password still does not work. The right phone number still gets the wrong person. The mental drifts to the future or the past still trouble me.
No, my mind holds me accountable, requires that I change my location and activity.
It is still okay to be extraordinary and extraordinary people take breaks.
