Today’s Mandala Message: Take a Day Off
This week I’m working through Principle #40 from Jack Canfield’s “The Success Principles” entitled “Redefine Time”. I set my intention today to consider taking a day off. Canfield states: “The value of Free days is that you come back to your work refreshed and ready to tackle it with renewed vigor, enthusiasm, and creativity. To become truly successful, you need these breaks to allow yourself some distance from your normal day-to-day life—so you can become more creative in generating breakthrough ideas and solving problems.”
By free days, Canfield means a day completely free of business/work-related meetings, tasks, projects, emails, phone calls, and so on. I have found that when I take breaks from my Mandala Lady business (art, readings, admin), I come back at it with new energy and usually new ideas. It’s almost like a declutter of the heart, mind, and soul. I can see the value in taking days off … except for my mandalas of the day. I allow myself to take mini vacations that also include taking some time out to create and post the MotD.
About half-way through one of my first large (4’x4’) mandala paintings, I took about a three year break from it. At first I thought it was fear or procrastination and then I realized I needed some distance from it to clear my head and gain some more skills, experience, and confidence. When I did get back to it last year, I finished it in less than six months. From start to finish it took me about seven years to do. Now I’m in the middle of my second 4’x4’ mandala painting. I’ve already taken a couple of short breaks from it and yet I’m on still track to finish it this year. (If you follow me on IG (@themandalalady), you can see my progress photos/videos).
A good mindfulness practice would be to take a day off to clear your head…go play.
So how about you? Could you allow yourself a day off? Or maybe an afternoon or evening off if a full day is impossible? Can you take some rest time here and there for a couple of minutes (even a few deep breathes can make a world of difference)?
“Sometimes
— Catherine Pulsifer
when we take a break,
we may find
that solutions
then
present themselves.”
Blessings,
Maureen
The Mandala Lady
All Things Mandalas
An Invitation
I invite you to color along with me this year as part of what I’m calling “The Year of Self-Exploration and Expansion” with all of my “Mandalas of the ___” (day, week, month, year). If you’re interested in more of a self-exploration approach to coloring, check out my “Coloring Mandalas as Meditation”. You can download this mandala at MandalaoftheWeek.com.
Mandala of the Day 