Learning to Pause

I don’t know about you, but during the day I often run helter-skelter from one task to another without a breath in between. Often, lunch happens well after noon, when I’m either famished or need a break, and then I am catching up on the news or Facebook or something else, slurping down my soup or sandwich without much gratitude or attention.

The result of running from person to thing to thing to person every day is mental exhaustion in which you can never really catch up until maybe, just maybe, the weekend hits. But there is a helpful remedy.

Take a moment to pause and breathe in between your tasks. Walk away from your desk if you can; hit the restroom, the water cooler or just take a step back, close your eyes and breathe. Clear your mind of the past and don’t think about what’s next; just enjoy a moment for yourself. Don’t take this moment for anything else like getting a cup of coffee and chatting with co-workers. This is a moment for you, your body and your mind.

My energy practitioner mentioned this one day when I was having a particularly busy week and felt so rundown I wanted to bury myself in a pile of blankets and not come out until hibernation season was over. Those lucky bears!

I saw the wisdom right away in taking time to close out one project – or even one phase of a project - and begin another by breathing and pausing; that even the most miniscule one minute of this practice can begin to unloop the overlapping, frenzied wiring to which I’ve gotten my brain accustomed.

This is also a great exercise when you feel overwhelmed and have too much to do; when you have trouble focusing on one thing because the shadows of so many other tasks await you. Clear your mind, take a few deep breaths. The focus will come. The clarity will come.

Done with Naysayers

I’ve always had a good-girl mentality. I want to be liked, I want to please, I want others to be happy with me, but there is always an undercurrent of want or need behind it. That for me is the mark of an inner child aspect who has not grown up.

Recently, my book club girlfriends have been talking about the book “The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck.” My inner good girl wants to care, but the older I get, and the more divisive and painful the conversations are in this country, the less I want to give an eff.

Recently, an advertiser told us her ad wasn’t working in out magazine, but that wasn’t enough. She went off on a tangent of painful spewing, not just slapping our baby; practically burying it after torture.

I am so done with that crap.

We didn’t lash out in anger and pain, even though we wanted to. Man, the things she said hurt. We had many, many things we could tell her about her business, what we know, what we’ve heard. But frankly, all we saw was a woman in pain herself, scared and obviously over her head, worried about money, life, and living the illusion of a business she expects will last forever.

And I decided right then that I am no longer giving an eff about mean-spirited, fearful people who only want to blame, criticize and judge everyone else but themselves.

I feel a little self-righteous about not giving a crap, my head held firmly high and a flush in my cheeks. I don’t think that’s the way I want to go about letting go; after all they say when you have no emotion about it then you are really there. But right now, I’m glad I feel that buzz because it means I am defending something of which I am proud, of which I have worked SO VERY hard, something for which I have spent long hours, sleepless nights and received not as much reward as I would have hoped.  It means I give a crap about my livelihood and my baby, when I really didn’t think I did care so much.

We don’t deserve the kind of harsh “reality” this woman decided to impose on us, thinking only of herself. That’s the joke – metaphysical “mal”-practitioners claiming to do good and be good and contribute to the well-being of the planet. HA. I know who the do-gooders are on this planet; I have scores of friends in the metaphysical biz who really are that kind of person, and whom I try to emulate on days I’m not feeling all that loving.  I know the real deal when I see it.

If I were in a financial position where I could have fired her as an advertiser, I would have done it on the spot. It would have felt so good. But it was also good to take time to process it and get to a different place mentally and emotionally about it, so that I know now I will no longer tolerate naysayers.

You naysayers, complainers, criticizers, judgers and blamers can go spread your ill-will somewhere else. I’m not putting up with it anymore. I will cut you off, I will walk away. I don’t need more negativity in my life, and I certainly don’t need to be spending my time processing your rants so that I feel better. And hopefully, soon, when someone else decides to beat my baby, I won’t need time to process it; I really just won’t care, except to decide what I am going to say that won’t hurt your feelings the way you might have hurt mine, and where I am going to go to get away from you.

Think about it the next time you come across someone who needs to put you or someone or something you love down. It's really about them, but they want you to feel as bad as they do. Decide it's not going to work, that they can stay with their pain, while you go off and live a freer, happier life not giving a rat's behind.

What’s Your Vision?

I stole that headline from the most recent Toastmaster’s magazine, in which new International President Balraj Arunasalam shares his personal vision statement.

I was captivated by his article, not because of his vision statement - that is compelling to him alone. Rather, here’s what he said the vision statement does for him:

“This will help me gain clarity when I am confused, determine if my progress is in line with my vision and encourage me to make choices that propel me in that direction.”

Can my personal vision statement be “pizza?”

I have a vision board which is not the same thing as a statement in pictures. There’s a boatload of difference between a mature statement that propels you to make decisions where “the fruits of your future success depend on a clear view of where you want to go” versus a stick figure of a dog, colored in brown pencil, similar to what you probably have from your kid on your refrigerator plastered in place with a magnet.

“History is replete with examples of highly successful individuals: Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa and Albert Einstein, to name a few. All had grand visions – often scoffed at and ridiculed – and all had a massive influence on the world. They each made the world a better place because they had a personal vision and dared to pursue it. Why not you? Maybe your vision won’t change the world, but it can change your world,” writes Arunasalam.

The reason I love the idea of a personal vision statement is that I often lose my way. Sometimes I am gung-ho about moving myself forward, working my business like a pro, writing my book like it’s the next Bible and being grateful for all that I am and have. Other times, by 1pm I have closed my bedroom curtains, donned my pajamas and watched Kung Fu Panda for the 30^th time, trying to forget there is a whole world outside spinning without me.  If I can let go of the guilt (of not doing or being enough that day) I am grateful for flannel (pajamas and sheets), delivery pizza and of course the creators of Kung Fu Panda, who have given me more joy than any delivery pizza.

Here’s what I think I need to include in my personal vision statement:

1.      That constant acts of kindness are a necessity (especially now);

2.      That I am the creator of my life and I can be or do anything I choose;

3.      That moving toward happy is not just a goal but a lifestyle;

4.      That I am intricately tied to the Universe whether I can see it or not;

5.      That consciousness shifts are necessary for me to heal myself, and help heal others.

So I think this is it for the first go-round:

“To seek continual shifts in consciousness so that I may always be an example of happiness and kindness, creating my life to be one of joy, reward, meaning, expansion and purpose to the best of my ability, allowing the unconditionally-loving Universe to work in its mysterious ways with full allowance on my behalf.”

I am going to continue working with this and honing it to be the very statement that helps me gain clarity when I am confused, determines if my progress is in line with my vision and encourages me to make choices that propel me in that direction.

Feels promising and hopeful.

PS: You might be curious about Arunasalam’s vision statement as the new International President of Toastmasters: “to lead by example, in both my personal and professional life, while continuing to invest in my own development to become an effective leader.”

Two Tips for Peace and Prosperity

If I could guarantee you will be happier, more prosperous and peaceful if you put into practice 2 simple tips, would you be willing to give it a try?

Then let me tell you a true story.

A few weeks ago, I was struck by a moment of inspiration, and “thought” to write myself a note saying that the Universe will provide me with unexpected abundance, within a week, and for exactly $900. I don’t know why that figure came to me; it just did. I wrote it all on a pink post it note and stuck it to the kitchen wall calendar to wait it out.

Five days later, a prospect called out of the blue, and asked if a full page ad at $900 would work for me. “Why yes it will!” I replied, without hesitation. Covered in goosebumps, I wondered how on Earth she could have just offered that. It’s nowhere on my advertising rate card, nor had she even mentioned anything about a full page ad, for that month, in the weeks we had been conversing.

Upon concluding my business with her, I ran for the note, threw open the front door where Doug was chatting with his brother on the phone, and yelled, “What does this note say??” and topped it off with my happy dance. The rest of that day, I was on a high from what I took to be a confirmation that I was in alignment with, and supported by, Source.

That in of itself is the story, but the reason I tell you this is because I didn’t get to that alignment by accident. It was because this was a radical departure from a prior month, where so much went wrong, I just wanted to jump in my car and escape. That month:

·         A full page advertiser halfway through her contract called to tell me she’s pulling out and there goes $1000 a month.

·         I got sick with a cold, and got Doug sick.

·         My car was totaled at a busy intersection.

·         My 75 year old Mother was having surgery in Florida and I was so afraid it would be the last time I’d ever hear her voice again.

Everything seemed to be falling apart, and I did everything wrong, MEANING, me, authoring a book on happiness, just jumped off the life raft of my own advice. I was letting the outside create my inside by perceiving all these events as bad, really bad, and kept letting those waves of fear hit me, over and over again until I felt myself go under, and had a scary panic attack, awake all night, heart thumping, gasping for air like a fish out of water.

Not only was I perceiving these events as bad, I was focusing on it all, ignoring all the good stuff around me, because the bad stuff is so damn hard to ignore, right? They are the squeaky wheels and the pesky flies, the poop in our punchbowls.  

They say that we teach what we most need to learn, and boy did I need to go back to my book in progress Moving Toward Happy. There, I found my abandoned life raft and jumped back on, reminding myself how important it is to create my inner world first.

And how I came to unexpectedly receive $900 is because I actively put into practice the two tips I share with you now, which can easily change your current state into a happier one:

1)      look at events you perceive as negative instead as a blessing and a gift even if you can’t understand it right now; and

2) focus on the positive – not just positive thinking, but focusing on the many positive people and circumstances you have in your life.

But don’t take my word for it.  Let’s take the word of a man considered to be one of the spiritual thought leaders in the world, shall we? Eckhart Tolle said “The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation, but thought about it. Be aware of the thoughts you are thinking. Separate them from the situation, which is always neutral. It is as it is.”

Now you might have noticed Eckhart said everything is neutral and that has its appeal. But that’s hard for us to grasp because we are so used to labeling everything as positive and negative. And that word “neutral” has a neutral feel doesn’t it?

Words count in helping you increase your happiness, just as thoughts and emotions do. Doesn’t it feel lighter and happier to label everything as a blessing and gift? “Thank you Xcel; I will pay this bill gladly in exchange for providing me with the air conditioning and heat needed this month.” I’d rather believe that life is working for me, and give thanks for it, and that’s just another way to focus on the positive. It feels uplifting, doesn’t it?

So, in the months following, I focused on the positive stuff, and believed that yes, truly, everything is a gift, even if don’t know it until later. For instance:

1.      That $1000 that dropped out? The truth is, if I look to my history, there is proof that I’ve always had enough money, and there is always more money flowing in. I made up that $1000 and much more;

2.      That car accident? Cost me $1400 to repair and the insurance company gave me $2500. It might not look pretty, but it works just fine.

3.      That cold? I got pampered for a few days and then I pampered him. I realized in resisting the cold – just like Mother Nature or videos of dogs who talk - resistance is futile.

4.      Lastly, my mom’s surgery. I only hurt myself by worrying. She’s still the tough old bird I know and love.

Keep in mind there is nothing worth holding onto that keeps your happiness and peace at arms’ length. Don’t let the bad become the biggest thing in your mind and heart. For the sake of your happiness, peace and prosperity, I ask you to try these two tips: look at everything as a blessing and gift, and focus on the good stuff. And I guarantee it works, or your money back.

Happiness & Forgiveness

In a presentation at the National Speakers Association yesterday, the presenter Jill Schiefelbein (www.thedynamiccommunicator.com) talked about the message it sends when you promote some form of communication and aren't doing it - ie blogging, social media, etc.

I instantly felt guilty that both blogs I have - for Natural Awakenings and Moving Toward Happy - having languished for at least a year.

It's not that I don't have the time; I can fit it in. It's just something that fell through the cracks, like shaving my legs  and filing.

So, she asked at the end of the presentation, what one thing would we promise to do in the next 90 days? Blogging was my first choice.

However, before I did that today, I forgave myself for not blogging. I forgave myself for not always being the perfect person I want to be, because that also has fallen through the cracks. And I forgave everyone who has ever read my blog and judged me for not writing, because sure enough those thoughts were also colliding in my quicksand of guilt and not good enough.

The truth is, holding onto any emotion that doesn't make you feel good is a sure-fire way to unhappiness, and can manifest with illness and depression. "...studies on forgiveness have led scientists to suspect that those who have difficulty forgiving are more likely to experience heart attacks, high blood pressure, depression, and other ills." 

We know that judging others doesn't feel good; why are we so quick to do it to ourselves?

Randy Ferguson of the Love, Courage and Achievement Project (www.lcaproject.com) says you can't hurt enough to heal the past. That was really earth-shattering when I heard it. Doesn't that just flick on the lightbulb in your head?

Are you done punishing yourself for being a flawed human being and maybe not making the right choice every single moment? Love yourself enough (just like you would forgive a pet, a child or others you love) to start moving forward in happiness and healing. The past is over. The only thing you have control over now is how you are going to live your present.

Now, I understand the forgiving myself for blogging isn't a big deal, but it's still a practice. Start with letting go of little things, and work your way up to stuff that's been bogging you down from living a happier life.

Here's an excellent and more in-depth article about forgiving yourself from Prevention.
http://www.prevention.com/mind-body/emotional-health/how-forgive-yourself-no-matter-what

Can You Ever Forgive Yourself?
12 ways to stop beating yourself up—no matter what you've done
ByELLEN MICHAUD
NOVEMBER 3, 2011

• 
  
  Okay, you did it. You spent half the month's food budget on a new coat, didn't get to your son's soccer match before the second half, put your mom in a nursing home, and, when the cat's yowling got on your nerves, you—you awful person!—let him outside where he was promptly hit by a car.
  Yikes! It's tough to forgive yourself. Your family and friends would never forgive you if they knew half of what you do. Unfortunately, you know the whole. And the sheer awfulness of it rocks you with guilt and sinks you with shame. God may forgive you. But how on earth are you ever going to forgive yourself?
  Probably one of the few people who can tell you is psychologist Fred Luskin, PhD, director of the Stanford University Forgiveness Project. Dr. Luskin has been conducting studies and workshops on forgiveness up and down the California coast for years. From Berkeley to Big Sur, he's worked with men who've cheated on their wives, wives who've cheated on their husbands, kids who've dumped their parents, parents who've dumped their kids, and a whole lot worse.
  Amazingly, the biggest obstacle he's found to self-forgiveness may be the tendency we have to wallow in our own guilt. "It's not just that we feel bad because we know we've done wrong," he explains. Everybody does that. But some of us actually draw those bad feelings around ourselves like a blanket, cover our heads, and refuse to stop the wailing.
  If that sounds nuts to you, you're not alone. Wailing should be reserved for the victim, not the perpetrator, right? But some of us try to use those bad feelings like a talisman to ward off the consequences of our actions, says Dr. Luskin. We curl up in a ball and say, "Hey! Look how bad I feel! See how I'm suffering! I'm pitiful! I'm pathetic! I can't be punished any more than this; it wouldn't be fair!"
  "It's a crazy form of penance," adds Dr. Luskin with a shake of his head. Instead of taking responsibility for what we've done by trying to repair the damage or make things right, many of us unconsciously decide—mea culpa—to punish ourselves by feeling miserable for the rest of our lives.
  It's not just about you
  Unfortunately, the decision to feel miserable for the rest of your life can have tragic consequences. And not always in obvious ways. 
  For one thing, misery loves company. "If you keep beating yourself up, then the person who tries to love you is going to get beat up too," explains Dr. Luskin. It's inevitable. Anyone who's wallowing in guilt is going to be more withdrawn, more critical, and less open than they normally would. So whoever's around—your spouse, your children, your parents, your friends, even your dog—is going to suffer right along with you.
  Nor does the suffering stop with those around you. Mind affects body in a zillion interconnecting ways, and those guilty feelings you're nurturing are generating chemicals that are headed straight for your vital organs. They increase your heart rate, raise your blood pressure, disrupt your digestion, tense your muscles, dump cholesterol into your bloodstream, and reduce your ability to think straight. And every time you remember what you did and wince, those bad feelings give you a fresh hit of corrosive chemicals.
  It's no wonder that studies on forgiveness have led scientists to suspect that those who have difficulty forgiving are more likely to experience heart attacks, high blood pressure, depression, and other ills.
  The healing power of forgiveness
  From his cramped office on the Stanford campus, Dr. Luskin has spent 6 years studying how people move toward forgiving themselves and others, and it's clearly a process that pulls at his heart as much as it teases his mind.
  "Forgiveness is a tool with which we face what we've done in the past, acknowledge our mistakes, and move on," he says slowly. "It does not mean that you condone or excuse what happened. It does not mean that you forget.
  "Remember the saying, 'For everything there is a season'?" he asks. "Well, there's a season for our suffering and regret. We have to have that. But the season ends; the world moves on. And we need to move on with it." Here are 12 ways to do it:
  
  
  1. Categorize the offense "Most of us find it hard to forgive ourselves when we've done one of four things," says Dr. Luskin.
  ·       You fail at some major life task such as making your marriage work.
  ·       Your actions have hurt someone else.
  ·       You've hurt yourself by the way you've led your life: drinking or doing something else that's self-destructive.
  ·       You didn't do something you thought you should, such as intervene in a family dispute or put money away so your kid can go to college.
  
  
  "Categorizing the offense begins the forgiveness process," emphasizes the psychologist. "It allows you to break down what you did, look at it, get a little distance, and begin healing."
  
  
  2. Know how you feel "Articulate the specific wrong you committed and the harm it caused," says Dr. Luskin. "Tell a couple of trusted people about what you did to get support, care, and advice," he adds. Sharing reminds us that everyone makes mistakes. "We commonly think we're alone and unique in our suffering, but this only makes healing more difficult," adds Dr. Luskin. Confessing what you've done also prevents you from slipping into denial, suppression, repression, and forgetting.
  
  
  3. Understand what you want You don't necessarily want to reconcile with the person you hurt, you just want to get rid of the shame, release the blame, and feel calm and whole at your center.
  
  
  4. Recognize unrealistic expectations Most of us have a set of unconscious rules hovering in the back of our minds about how we expect ourselves to behave. But those rules, many of which we've absorbed in childhood rather than actually thought about, are not always realistic.
  When my friend Susan's mom had a slight stroke, for example, Susan felt she should invite her mom to move in with her. A daughter always takes care of her mother, right? But her mother was and had always been an absolutely miserable human being, a lot like mob boss Tony Soprano's hateful mother on the HBO series, The Sopranos. There was no way to please her. Every word that came out of her mouth was a criticism, a put-down, or a complaint. And it was all delivered in a nasty tone intended to wither everyone around her with contempt. 
  With the help of her friends and husband, Susan realized that it wasn't realistic—or fair—to bring such overwhelming negative energy into the house. So she helped her mom move into an assisted living community with a pool of trained helpers on call morning, noon, and night.
  
  
  5. Identify the hurt Realize that the hurt feelings, guilty thoughts, and tummy-tightening stress you feel whenever you think of your offense is what's actually making you feel bad—not what you did 2 minutes or 10 years ago, says Dr. Luskin. It's your reaction to it today that's causing a problem. It's a habit that has to go.
  
  
  6. Hit the stop button Replaying what you did over and over again in your head isn't going to help you or the person you hurt. It just makes you feel bad. So every time you catch yourself ruminating on your sins, stop, and refocus your attention on something more positive.
  
  
  7. Sorry! When you can't forgive yourself because of something you've done to someone else, sometimes all it takes is a sincere apology to make things right. Apologies are most effective if made in person, of course. But if that's not possible, consider wrapping your apology in a little humor. One woman who owed her husband an apology sent him a copy of the game "Sorry!" with a note asking if they could play. Not to be beaten, her husband responded with a copy of the old Brenda Lee single, "I'm Sorry." Now, isn't that nice?
  
  
  8. Practice PERT PERT stands for Positive Emotion Refocusing Technique. It's a 45-second strategy Dr. Luskin developed to use whenever you start beating yourself up over past sins. Simply close your eyes, draw in a long breath that gently pushes out your belly, then slowly exhale as you relax your belly. Draw a second breath, and exhale.
  On the third deep breath, says Dr. Luskin, create an image of someone you love or of a beautiful place in nature that fills you with awe: a beautiful beach, a path through a majestic redwood forest, a mountain stream tumbling over rocks. Breathe deeply as your mind explores the natural beauty around you. Notice how you feel, and allow those feelings to center on the area around your heart.
  Now, ask this peaceful part of you what you can do to help yourself feel better. Then, when you've received an answer, open your eyes, and put it into action.
  
  
  9. Make it right "To make amends, you look for a way to be kind to those you have hurt," says Dr. Luskin. If you spent half the family's monthly food budget on a new coat, make it up to them by turning out the tastiest meals ever cooked on a shoestring. Didn't get to your son's championship soccer game until the second half? Make it right by volunteering to be next year's assistant coach.
  Even if the person you hurt is dead or otherwise absent from your life, you can still make things up by providing a kindness to someone else, says Dr. Luskin. "Think you were a bad parent? Okay, you can't go back and change things now, but can you go out of your way to be an outstanding grandparent? Can you join a Big Brothers or Big Sisters organization and provide some guidance and companionship to somebody else's child?
  "Do good rather than feel bad," says Dr. Luskin. Not only will you forgive yourself, but doing so will turn your life around in ways that you can only imagine.
  
  
  10. Lose the Wicked Witch thing Once you've made amends, it's time to stop telling yourself the old story in which you're the Wicked Witch of the West. Start telling yourself a new story: a heroic story in which, despite your human frailties, you do everything in your power to be a forgiving person. Susan is my particular hero. As she learned to forgive herself for moving her mom into a special residence, she also learned how to forgive her mother for a childhood of less than loving words. Today, Susan visits her mom once a week and calls her every few days. And although her mom is just as nasty as ever—some things never change—the two women have never been closer.
  
  
  11. Put things in perspective Once a day, think of all the kind and loving things you've done today alone: the stray dog you picked up and returned to its owner, the crying child you distracted so its mother could eat her lunch, the dry cleaning you picked up after work so that your honey could exercise. Think about it for very long, and you'll realize that you've become one amazing person!
  
  
  12. Give yourself a break! Feeling bad about things you've done in the past can create a pretty painful present. So while you're learning how to forgive yourself and move on, give your mind and body a break from all the shame and guilt by replacing them with gratitude, says Dr. Luskin. Here's how he suggests you do it:
  ·        Walk into your nearest supermarket, and give thanks for the abundance of food that's available.
  ·        Go to a nursing home or hospital, and give thanks for your own good health. 
  ·        When driving, mentally thank each of the drivers who follow the rules of the road. 
  ·        If you have a significant other in your life, thank him or her for caring for you every day.
  ·        Really notice the salesperson in a store who waits on you. Thank them for helping you. 
  ·        As you wake each morning, give thanks for your breath and the gift of your life. 
  
  
  After all, it's so much better to do good than to feel bad.
  
  

What Living is all About

I was reading Anne Tyler's new book, A Spool of Blue Thread, and came across this passage, which I thought was a lovely idea.

This is the reverend's speech during a funeral.

"I didn't know Mrs Whitshank," he said, "and therefore I don't have the memories that the rest of you have. But it has occurred to me, on occasion, that our memories of our loved ones might not be the point. Maybe the point is their memories - all that they take away with them. What if heaven is just a vast consciousness that the dead return to? And their assignment is to report on the experiences they collected during their time on earth. The hardware store their father owned with the cat asleep on the grass seed, and the friend they used to laugh with till the tears streamed down their cheeks, and the Saturdays when their grandchildren sat next to them gluing Popsicle sticks. The spring mornings they woke up to a million birds singing their hearts out, and the summer afternoons with the swim towels hung over the porch rail, and the October air that smelled like wood smoke and apple cider, and the warm yellow windows of home when they came in on a snowy night. 'That's what my experience has been,' they say and it gets folded in with the others - one more report on what living felt like. What is was like to be alive."

As a follow-up to my last post about mindfulness and presence, it seems I keep running across ideas and concepts that speak to me about taking the time to focus on what I am doing, right now, presently, so I can remember more bits and pieces of what it felt to be alive. Letting go of all the chatter in our heads about the past, and the future, to see today truly for what it is...it's a different perspective, isn't it? Could be. Why not give it a try?

On Mindfulness and Presence

I am writing the section in Moving Toward Happy (MTH) about mindfulness and presence. Which, of course, reminds me to be mindful and present. This is not an easy task on a Sunday, of all things, because I'm thinking about what I need to do to jump out of the gate on Monday and get work done. I'm thinking about heading into the kitchen for a snack. I'm thinking I'd rather be watching a movie or reading - you know, the stuff that doesn't take as much brain power? It's Sunday, a day of rest.
Yet, I feel a sense of enthusiasm for writing. I'm thinking it's play and not work. I'm thinking it's the side of me that's coming out, come hell or high water, so I better make room for it. And the more I do it, the more present I am, the more mindful I become, the more I love what I am writing and what I hope to give to the world. I want to see the manifestation of all these years of hoping and wishing and dreaming and doing!
It's taking me ages to write because it's easy to find distraction and other things to consume my time. Why is it, I asked myself the other day, that I put other work ahead of my dreams? Author Steven Pressfield says in his book "The War of Art", the more you resist, the more important it is for your growth. MTH is reallllllllly important!
Being present and mindful taps into an ease and flow that you just can't find in a normal hour, when our brains are busy with what we need to get done, when we need to get it done and how we need to get it done. Bringing back our distracted, wandering minds each time we stop focusing on what is in front of us is a way to strengthen that mental muscle so we have a greater ability to see the beauty that is now, in front of us and feel ever more happiness, gratitude and appreciation.