*****sorry for the unintended two weeks hiatus here…my computer forgot all my passwords and I had to reset alost all of them (and write them down lol)*******
Good morning, my friends! Happy Monday!
I hope your week has been a good one. Ours was uneventful and pretty much the same as every other week. Often life can feel a bit like Groundhog’s Day…we complete the same tasks each day, each week and then rinse and repeat. Sometimes I like it and other times it feels like I am coming out of my skin. I just want to do something! My mind keeps wishing for little things, to go to the movies or out to eat (this all just opened up where I live recently…), or go on vacation. I figured this was a good starting point for 3 things to think about this week, basically how to combat feelings of boredom and restlesness and FOMO.
3 things to think about this week:
1) Often when I am feeling anxious I try to remember to ground myself in the moment. I chatted briefly about incorporating ACTION last week when it comes to feeling restless, which I think is really important. We can think ourselves sick sometimes (I mean, do…) but doing something, anything, really helps me. Often something simple as taking a lap around your house, or starting that project you have held off, basically not overthinking things and just getting started with something helps. Less thinkng, more DOING.
I think we all know how fast time goes by. All of a sudden my kids are almost both in middle school and it makes me both happy and sad at the same time. I try to ground myself each day in moments when I think of it, of being truly present. I love multitasking, but we all live in a really distracting world. I am working on putting my phone down more and really soaking in moments. I know someday I will look back and wish I had these days back, so I try my best to soak them up. What little things can you notice and appreciate? Can you set an alarm on your phone to stop and take a deep breath a few times a day? Get up and stretch and look out the window? Pet your dog or hug your kids? Take a minute to take a few deep belly breathes and notice, are you living your life with enjoyment or just checking off boxes on a to do list? (I am guilty of this!)
2) Something I do each day that has been a gamechanger has been having a gratitude practice. Which I KNOW, is not a new concept, but it really helps with my mindset. I think that life is A LOT. We see crazy stuff all day on the tv and on social, we are dragged down with almost a year of a pandemic and kids home and isolation and it is easy to see things in a negative light. However, taking a moment each day to think of 3 things you are grateful for really helps. I write it in my journal each morning, but it is just as easy to think of them in my head while I wait for my coffee to brew. The key is to really feel it as you think about it or write it down. These don’t have to be huge things! I often write down things like: coffee, soft sweaters, seat warmers in my car, etc. I write it down and think a second about how it feels to have these things, then write/think the next.
The next step is to keep it going throughout the day if you can. Once you start you will find more and more things to enjoy and appreciate. Another word to use instead of gratitude is APPRECIATE. Today I appreciated the color of the sky when the sun was rising, how pretty the snow looks as it falls, and the new jacket I wore when dropping my daughter off at school that has fleece pockets.
Can you appreciate more things in your day? All it takes is a second to notice and acknowledge! When all else fails, a heart that beats and lungs that breathe and a body that wakes up each day is something to be grateful for.
3) Lastly, let’s chat meditation. This can be as involved as you want or very simple. I have done 30 minute guided meditations where I swear I have floated off and heard words from angels/guides, to very simple times ones where I accomplish nothing more than thinking about the day and not focusing at all. Both are okay. Your mind is meant to wander and redirection is the point. Ten seconds of no thought is good enough!
What I have been doing lately has been really simple. I have the Calm app on my phone, the unpaid version. In the app they have a spot for timed meditation and I do the 5 minute one. I sit in a chair in my office and set that 5 minutes and it just plays music until the time is up with a sound of a gentle bell. What I do during that five minutes is to repeat mantras that inspire me. Often the same thing over and over. Like,
….My body is a vessel for my soul. I have a body. I am enough. I love my body. I love my shape. I am open and ready to receive. Everything is always working out for me. All is well. I am an exceptional mom. I am an exceptional wife. I am successful. I am enough….
Whatever sounds good I repeat it. And then often enough I try to visualize some of the goals I am trying to reach as if they have already happened. I dream as if it has happened and how it will feel. Other times I dream up trips I want to go on or how I will feel when certain things come true. The key is to tap into the feelings you want to have and envisioning that.
Before I know it the time is up and I am ready to start my day. You can do this in a million of ways…laying in bed before you go to sleep, in the shower, wherever you can talk to yourself in your head. We are basically replacing thoughts in your head with how you WANT to think and feel. You will find that they will begin to automatically happen after ahwile.
That’s it! 3 simple tips to make the best of life right now and really, all of the time. I used to have this quote taped on my wall in college, “life happens when you are busy making plans.” This is it, right HERE, this is life. Whether it is what you want it to be right now or now, you have the power to tap into appreciation and creating a mindset of abundance and gratitude.
