As usual, I am writing this from my couch, while the Christmas tree twinkles and a Hallmark movie is playing. #happyplaceMy daughter is reading on her phone next to me, and my son and his friend are building a Minecraft empire in the next room. It’s also raining, so it feels extra cozy inside.
Last Friday I had my second virtual therapy sesh and it was really nice. I feel like I word vomited on her for about 30 minutes and we began to pinpoint what is the best thing to work on right now, for me and my mental health. Which brings me to…
3 things to think about this week!
1) A lot of what makes me anxious is always worrying about the future. My mind is always ten steps ahead and rarely where I am. I worry about EVERYTHING and set the bar really high for myself and have huge goals, and that gets in the way of me enjoying where I am. When I think about it, I rarely enjoy the now…I am always thinking about/worrying about something in the future. So, for the next week or so I am going to do my best to live in the moment.To enjoy the process rather than race to the finish line.I think that is why I have the most trouble with reaching a goal, I get there and I only enjoy it for a second and then I am off to the next. What if I enjoy the now? What if I sit with not having the answers to a question one year from now? What if I just hear my thoughts spiral and take a deep breath and just surrender? Enjoy the process of what is without having the answers?
What if you do the same?It’s funny, every year I stress about getting holiday stuff done and I always do, yet I stress every year. What if I just repeat, “I always get things done,” and breathe and enjoy where I am, right in this moment? What if you do the same?
2) Last week I wrote this post on Instagram about how I always wanted to be an artist when I grew up, and because of various reasons, chose “practical” instead. For years I have dabbled in drawing and painting and creativity, but it has always been a hobby for me. Something that brings pure joy to me. Last weekend my daughter and I went to Michael’s and bought some watercolor paints, and I have been painting like crazy all week. And learning to hand letter, just sitting and painting and getting lost in something I love to do.
How many of you had a dream growing up that wasn’t “practical” or had a high rate of failure, and seemed impossible to pursue? How many of us put this passion aside in the name of ‘real life?” I went on to get a degree in Business Management (seemed practical) and a Master’s in Reading Education (it was a next step at the time), yet none of these spark joy in me. They are great to have, but don’t light me up. Writing, sharing, painting, creating, those light me up.
What lights you up? Do you have an old passion you set aside? How can you nurture your inner self and light that spark of joy you may have hidden?
3) Other than being in the moment, my big theme for this week has been surrender. You know that saying, ‘life is what happens when you are busy making plans?‘ I always laugh thinking about it, because it is true. Literally nothing went to plan this week, yet I learned a lot. I surrendered to being really sore after a workout and rested the rest of the week. I surrendered to feeling under the weather and did the bare minimum. I surrendered to everything I should have done and just relaxed. It was nice! What can you surrender to this next week? What expectations can you let go of?
Anyway, that is it for this week! I hope you have an amazing week and you remember to enjoy the moment, rediscover old dreams you may have let go of, and surrender to what is;)
In case you missed it, my anger about what is taught in middle school inthis post, and what I did about it in this post!
