Part 5: The storm of Restlessness
Calming the Mind to Stay Stead on the Insightful Path
If calm acceptance allows the surface of the mind to settle, creating a stillness from which we can clearly perceive the present moment, then restlessness is its antithesis. Agitation disrupts this stillness, breaking the surface of our awareness like storm-driven waves, making it nearly impossible to see below.
Image was AI generated using DALL-E, Open AI’s image generation model
In the accelerated pace of modern professional life the winds of distraction buffet us relentlessly. Competing priorities, shifting expectations, and endless notifications blow in from all directions. For many who have thrived and risen in these environments, survival often depends on managing the chaos. Yet even for the most adept, there’s a hidden cost: beneath the strategies of time management and task optimisation, the subtle habits of distraction and restlessness can remain deeply ingrained, pulling us away from the present moment.
Tim Gallwey, in his essay Overcoming Mental Obstacles for Maximum Performance (2000), points to a profound insight:
“…a critical part of the practice of focus… most people don’t realize how scattered their attention is until they consciously attempt to learn to maintain focus. ”
This realization is not a failure; it’s the beginning of the path. As Gallwey writes:
“Maintaining focus is not a matter of never losing focus, but a matter of shortening the periods of time in which you lose focus. The best goal for learning focus is to become good at coming back. ”
This insight is deceptively simple: focus isn’t about perfection—it’s about recovery. The storm of restlessness may blow through our minds, but the skill lies in returning, again and again, to the still point beneath the waves.
Max Ehrmann’s Desiderata (1927) offers a poetic antidote to the modern condition:
“Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence… Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.”
In these lines, we find not just advice, but a practice. To cultivate calm amidst the noise requires us to consciously step out of comparison, judgment, and distraction. It’s an act of radical presence, one that centers us in the here and now.
Returning to stillness is not a passive retreat from the world; it’s an active engagement with it. When we learn to pause, to reconnect with the breath, to gently guide our scattered attention back to the present, we strengthen our capacity to respond skillfully and insightfully to life’s demands. This is the essence of walking the Insightful Path—not to avoid the storm of restlessness, but to learn to navigate it with clarity and grace.
The question, then, is not whether the winds will come—they will. The question is: How will you steady yourself in their midst? As you move through your day, notice the moments when restlessness pulls you away. Instead of resisting, gently guide your attention back—again and again. Focus isn’t about perfection; it’s about returning. Take the first step on the Insightful Path and discover the clarity within the stillness.
