Photo credit to tinpoppy.ca

I managed to miss all of the Canada Day celebrations this year because I was struck down by sickness on the first day of my vacation. I hate to belly ache about a tiny cold but it was the fever that made me useless. 

After several dizzy spells and having to sit down every two minutes I decided I didn’t care if my house was messy, sipped on chai tea with honey and binge watched Homeland on Netflix. 

This morning I felt 85% better so I challenged my daughter to a one on one to try out the new basketball pad her dad built. I think I did better yesterday when my equilibrium was off. 

Tomorrow we are leaving on a little mini-vacay road trip to the Okanagan, staying in a solar cabin nestled in the woods with no wifi and then onto a fantastic eco retreat in the wilderness. I figured this was a good time to put my W.I.S.E. Principles down in black in white because there is never a time that I need these reminders more. I know you are probably thinking that I am going on vacation what could I possibly find to stress about? Well…everything. For instance as much as I would like to believe and for everyone else to believe that these long dark locks of mine have not been diminished with age the truth is that shock white hairs grow along my hairline and most recently they have started to grow staight up and out of the top of my head. I dye my hair very sparingly because root touch up always took care of everything I could see until I discovered last week when I was playing with my hair at a red light that my long locks were not only lack laster on the back of my head but there are white strands growing amid the dull and lifeless brown ones. Because I was sick all weekend I decided to nice and easy box dye my hair and immediately after have been stressing about going to the beach and having black dye streaked all over my face or on white cabin pillows or luxurious bath robes. Our eco retreat has a sauna so I can imagine stepping out with black dye mingled with sweat running all over my body. 

When I was 12 years old I was on our quad driving through country fields with wild abandon. I remember how glorious it felt. Sweet freedom with sun in my face and wind in my hair, the moment took over and I closed my eyes to enjoy that warm, carefree feeling of summer  and drove through a barbed wire fence. I have blocked a lot of the incident out, mostly due to embarassment and shame. I gave into a moment and then I had to explain to my mom and my torturously bratty brothers how the fence jumped out at me. I don’t even think they have bothered me about it ‘much’ over the years but the memory still mocks me. I am reminded of that embarrassment a lot.

I am sadly pretty tame in my advancing years but a while back I was convinced to smoke a joint and watch a comedy show. We were on vacation and I was laughing hysterically but immediately decided to go to bed because I thought I might laugh too hard at something that wasn’t funny and embarass myself. What was embarassing was crying to my husband and begging him to make me “not high” anymore. So as you can see mindfulness and living in the moment doesnt’t come naturally to me. I have had to overcome some very ridiculous fears about shame and learn to lean into vulnerability. Baby steps…

  I am learning really quickly that shame is a roadbloak and it is impossible to be authentic without a little vulnerability. 

There ain’t no mountain high enough to keep me from enjoying this much needed break from the city so laughing till I pee a little is in and worrying about laughing till I pee is out!

My July Principles are:

Welcome- this is a month to welcome new things and new experiences. Also very soon I will be welcoming a new granddaughter. 

Innocent-When I think of innocent I think of babies and I am certain this was a thought back in December when I wrote out the principles but I also think it would be great to see people through ‘innocent’ eyes. No jade…no judgement, the way one would view nature or a child.

Special- I want to reconize that special moments are fleeting and they should be enjoyed to the fullest without rushing onto the next moment. To live in the moments and bask in them a little longer is my ultimate goal. 

Enjoy- I want to give myself permission to enjoy myself. Even if my house is a mess or I need to get up early the next day I need to give myself over to completely enjoy the moment. 

I love road trips but they are not without their challenges. I love coffee but try to abstain while travelling because I need to pee to frequently. I think I am nicer when I have had caffeine but I am going to try my best to leave in the morning with fun, happy, not a care in the world Michelle and not be annoyed by hubbys heavy foot. I will even play and win all of the road trip games. 

Wish me luck. 

I will be leaving shortly to stock up on wine. That should help. 😉

“Jobs fill your pockets but adventures fill your soul!!