mediation – Dancing in the rain!

I want you to know something important. I don’t always have my shit together. I am winging it at the best of times, life, eyeliner, finances…all of it.

My decision making consists of a slight pause, a deep breath and the phrase “fuck it” before diving head first into most situations.

I am not shy and some of my friends describe me as extroverted but the truth is I have this insane need to just be myself. Now granted I have a select friend or two that gets to see the full on crazy that I tuck in periodically to be acceptable for the rest of the world but generally speaking I am an open book and that is important to me because the people that belong in my life are there for the right reasons; for me, not for a version of myself that I present to the world.

We are constantly looking to the right thinking that everyone else has it all together and the truth is that most of us are really just winging it.

The bigger truth is I feel pretty damn good about it.

There was a time when I was trying to juggle all of the balls at once, motherhood, marriage, work, finances, volunteerism and I constantly had the feeling that one wrong move and everything would come tumbling down. The truth is I wasn’t doing any of those jobs particularly well because I neglected in all of that to take care of me.

When I started truly investing in myself it seemed that everything else seemed to fall gently into place, there was no more guilt or juggling. There is great deal of freedom in letting go and trusting that you are fully supported at all times by something larger than you. For me that is the universe; science, energy, spirit and guides. I believe that when we take care of ourselves we are better in tune to see the way that these things work together to constantly support us for our greatest good.

I try to make good healthy choices for myself, I limit my time with people who suck my energy and seek out opportunities for wellness and growth. The more I do this, the more things, ideas and people cross my path that I know for certain were placed there at the right time to support me and to fill my journey with light.

I don’t have all the answers but what I am trying to accomplish is to let go of the fear that sometimes goes hand in hand with not knowing what comes next.

Sometimes it is scary not knowing all of the answers but we cannot live our lives for tomorrow when today is all we are promised.

For me meditation has been a wonderful gift to keep me grounded and connects me to the present and quite frankly to my inner self, the witness, not the judge. Even in the midst of chaos I have the tools to access calm in me that for a long time I never knew existed.

Just for today take a little time to recognize where you are, look around, breath. Don’t worry that the neighbor has a backyard oasis and you have a giant toilet for your dog, don’t worry that your friend is making her family a recipe from Chrissy Tiegan’s new cookbook and your kids are getting Lucky charms with chocolate milk after practice. Take a moment to remember that you have all this under control, take that five minutes you thought you couldn’t afford, even if you are just sitting in the bathroom playing Spiderman solitaire with the door locked. You matter. The moment you realize that everything else is gravy.

You got this.

Our lives are busy, full of constant movement! Sometimes the most luxurious thing I can think of is sitting still. As part of my W.I.S.E. principles this month I am trying to educate myself on the art of sitting still, the silent movement and meditation. I wasn’t aware that there was such a thing as Black Hole Resorts where people give up hundreds of dollars a day to give up their cell phones and disconnect with the world and reconnect with themselves. Indulging in digital disconnect. It really shows you where we are as a society.

We are thrill seekers, adventure junkies, craving exhilaration and feeling alive when sometimes what we really need is to sit still for just a moment. To breath. To live.

So much of our lives take place inside our head, in memories, imagination, speculation and interpretation. The adventures and thrills we live are best re-lived when we take a moment to pause and recall them.

Never have we lived in a time that we were afforded so many time saving devices, but I know that for me these time saving devices are costing me valuable time. I would be afraid to know just how much mindless time I spend scrolling through my smartphone and all of my social media. We live in a time where we are blessed to be able to be in contact with people all over the world but we are losing contact with ourselves. We are not making wise use of the technology that has been handed to us and therefore we are feeling more disconnected than ever.

I don’t want to misquote here so this is more of an interpretation than anything; my daughter’s music teacher was explaining the purpose of a pause (or break) in the song my daughter was practicing. Besides giving the singer time for air, a well placed thoughtful pause gives a song its beauty because empty spaces give our imagination room to breath. Emily Zinger I hope I have understood that correctly.

I had a very quick lunch with my husband in my office and now I am going to take my last ten minutes before our “Beer Tasting” afternoon meeting. (yup my job is hard) to find some beauty in the empty spaces.