Last Friday, my brilliant wife gave me a very clear instruction:
‘You need a weekend doing nothing.’ Doing nothing is alien to me; I’m always on the go.
But Christine is very good at making sure Michael doesn’t have a meltdown.
So, I listened.
After an hour of me doing very little, she asked how I was doing.
I claimed to feel… a little bored.
What she said next was brilliant, ‘Embrace the boredom.’
Isn’t that great? Just three words. I immediately flipped it and gamified being bored.
I embraced it.
I spent the next two and a half days embracing slowing down, pottering and basically being bored.
Just by adding ‘Embrace’, it’s amazing what you can flip.
Embrace not having
Embrace slow
Embrace not being right
Embrace being hungry
Embrace not knowing
Embrace simple
What else could you embrace?
I’ll send a copy of my book Flip It how to get the best out of everything to our favourite.
Please leave your comments below.
Be Brilliant!
Michael
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Embrace the nothingness
Embrace just being
Embrace pain.
Embrace being adopted
Embrace the discomfort (as someone who has been going through court process for 6 years, I have really had to learn to embrace this. It is so hard, but you are right, embracing it helps personal growth). Thank you
Embrace not feeling the need to be doing something. (Harder to do than to say!)
Embrace your chaos
Embrace the strangeness and wonder
Brilliant Christine and congratulations Michael.
At least Christine didn’t say “Michael, embrace being boring!”
I recall a Michael Parkinson show in which the guest (I forget who) said jokingly.
My wife could bore an arsehole on a wooden horse!
Still makes me laugh.
Embrace laughter, friendship, family and the gift of being alive!
embrace being alone for some that’s hard, i embrace it!
embrace nature and the beauty around us, sometimes we are too busy to stop and look at what is around us .WH Davies talk about this in his poem leisure “what is life if full of care we have no time to stand and stare….
Embrace being ‘Me’!
Embrace embracing
I found myself bored yesterday having edited Trung Trung Karmo to within an inch of its life. I’m not good at having nothing to do, so embracing boredom could be my next project!
Embrace loving yourself as you are.
Embrace the possibility you’re overthinking things.
Embrace madness! Sometimes, if you’re stuck writing or editing, embracing the madness you feel creeping in just allows you to step out of that rut and write freely for a moment. Anything you want, even if it’s nonsense! And sometimes, you might just get some real gems coming through. I know I did, an idea for an entire book I’ve written 🙂
I have learnt to embrace the school run. Rather than do the short drive to school my two daughters (age 7&9) and I walk the 1.5 miles to school…it gives us a great half an hour of fresh air, time to talk to each other and we’ve noticed so much more of nature and the seasons than we would had we driven. Plus I get the 5k walk to school and back each day giving me headspace on my walk home to start the day.
Embrace how beautiful it is to do nothing and then rest afterwards
Embrace medication (and to Hell it shortens your life.)
Embrace quiet.
Embrace the opportunity to be still. Embrace the joy in simply listening.
Embrace admiring the daylight on a plant or the trees.
Valuable advice for many of us Michael. It is hard for us just to be. I love being in the countryside watching nature, but, I take my camera and binoculars along with me, which is fine, but I rarely just look at my surroundings without thinking ‘oh that would make a great picture etc’. I am so easily distracted, from just writing, and as for doing nothing at all, well, that’s just not going to happen! I did meditation for years, but this mind if mind rarely shut up. The psalmist 2500 years ago who wrote,’ be still, and know that I am God.’, knew people in his time had the same problem of being at peace with themselves. So thanks for reminding us that is it okay to just ‘be’ in whatever circumstances we find ourselves.
Embrace the chaos! Doing this is the only thing keeping me sane at the moment.
I have a cross stitch saying: ‘The trouble with doing nothing is that you never know when you are finished’. At least by embracing boredom you are doing something!
Embrace silence – sometimes it seems that it is almost deafening.
Embrace nature – however seemingly small
On Monday I did both of the above. I was feeling overwhelmed so specifically left my phone at base. Went for a walk – kicked a few leaves and then sat on the carrier bag I had bought with me and buried my feet in the leaves. I also left my watch at base. Bliss!
Embrace being daft – like the saying “dance like no one can see you” it is liberating to dance in a lay-by in the dark!!
Embrace indecision
Embrace the moment. Whatever it is and whatever it brings.
This is so true Micheal, but sometimes it is hard to embrace something that you don’t enjoy. It might not be instant, but can often have a profound effect on your life!
Embrace grief and loss. After a while, grief and loss have made me look at life differently and I’d say for the better. Making me realise my mortality and make the most of the life that I have.
Embrace the Ordinary.
Embrace Peace
Still in process of writing my book ‘Get Bored’ from last WTB.
Embrace Fear – eventually once we embrace something it loses its power
Embrace uncertainty, once we accept & embrace a situation, the creativity has room to develop & grow
Thanks Michael, loving the course, I am rather behind re quite nasty illness but I’m embracing that as it’s given me time to slow down, to sleep, to think things through, write shite but experiment a little, research and more 🙂
Embrace being overwhelmed
Embrace silence.
Embrace grief. No need to rush it or keep busy. Grief can enfold us in love if we give it peace and time.
Embrace frustration.
Embrace Your Life. It’s the only one You’ll get!
Embrace the moment. Embrace the sheer excitement of that new paragraph idea. Embrace life, embrace the ups and downs, embrace tomorrow, embrace your future.
Embrace knowledge
Embrace less stress
Embrace your family
Embrace a dying person
Embrace a patient even if they have Covid
You seem to have an ability to tell me what I need to hear, when I need to hear it.
I’ve been non stop since the end of September, to the point where I’ve developed a repetitive strain injury. Today is my first ‘real’ day off where I’m not rushing about doing things for people and I was struggling not to go off like a rocket doing something to fill the time. I’ve not quite embraced the boredom, but I went and had my lunch in the local park so I could admire the autumnal leaves. It was quiet and beautiful and just what I needed.
Embrace the moment
You may have seen me having a get together at the pub which I call the hour of power. This basically lets you escape your everyday routine for exactly one hour. You can apply this to anything – simply take an hour out. Similar to a nana nap. Embrace the hour of power
Embrace life. Tomorrow isnt promised. I embraced my gym session, especially when someone mistook me for the Personal Trainer! I am embracing having my Mum for a little longer, after her coming out of hospital.
Embrace the seasons – had a couple of hours, with camera, at Sheffield Park Gardens yesterday. A much appreciated moment.
Embrace challenges
Embrace curiosity
Embrace self patience
Embrace being lost
Embrace the pen,
Hold it tight,
Don’t worry, about writing shite,
You’ll be alright!
Embrace the moment to sit & think,
To let the flow of writing sink,
Down through the arm upon the page,
Soon you’ll be at the next stage,
Write that book,
One day at a time,
17 minutes will do just fine,
Embrace the time that it will take,
Don’t forget to take a break,
Before you know it, your book will be done,
So you can embrace the fact that you won!
Embrace your lover and the lights and delights that follow.
Embrace – Just being ……
Embrace being alone.