Sigh. Pause. Breathe. Some days, you may feel like you're holding on to the last moment of peace when one more thing jolts you—time for a meltdown. Sometimes you can see it coming; other times things show up like a brick wall and take you off-center. You cannot always control what happens – they are part of life. As much as we all like endless days of calm with everything falling into place, life can have other ideas.
I hear from so many people who feel so depleted and don't have time to replenish themselves: too much to do and other priorities. I am not suggesting you take two weeks off and go to the Bahamas. (Though I admit that sounds amazing, it's not always feasible.) It is the smallest of things that you can do for yourself that can make the most significant impact.
Change the old patterns that you are comfortable with yet are toxic. Take out the clutter in your life to make room for a clean and healthy mental and physical environment for yourself to create a peaceful silence in your life (and sleep!). It's a win-win for both you and others in your life.
I ask you to pause and think about this statement: The weight of responsibility that we place on ourselves and the forgiveness we don’t give. We all fumble at times in our lives. We've had words that flew out of our mouths under duress because we've exhausted ourselves. We've experienced anger, impatience, fear - all big emotions that can overwhelm our sanity - it happens to all of us. Those words/thoughts can be directed toward others as well as us.
Your mind is a powerful tool, and the more you 'feed' it with racing or negative thoughts, the more you fuel it to race even more. Energy creates energy, good or bad. So, by reacting to your inner voice by yelling at it to STOP! only ramps it up—Tempting reaction perhaps, but never a great solution.
None of us knows what the future holds, and one thing that this past year has brought into even more focus for me is being in the present moment. Where you have power is NOW. Stop speed dialing through your to-do list and pause. Stop replaying what has already taken place and move forward. The wrangling during the night about conversations you wish had gone differently, the chances you didn't take, the flashback to years ago, none of these are events that can be changed.
Think of driving down a road with potholes at 65 mph. You need to get to your destination! But your car is shaking, you're shaking, suddenly your ability to keep going has gone. We talked about this in our Online Care Circle recently: how easy it is to get caught up in the gotta go mode, and how poor the results can be.
In the mix of overwhelm that can happen in our lives, from the usual to-dos to the unexpected, are you taking time to stop? To B-R-E-A-T-H-E? Be honest with yourself. We all think we can handle a lot, and at times we have to. Try changing up the usual protocol you have done into an energetic shift. Energy is powerful stuff - what you put in you get back multiplied abundantly. Be aware of the negative you send out (or in) because it is likely to produce more.
Seeking peace comes from within yourself and becomes one of the most important tools we all have.
Regardless of what is happening, each day is full of possibilities, and even the smallest of occurrences can make the most significant difference. Set yourself up by appreciating the little moments of the day, from seeing the sunrise to turning off the news and watching a movie and feeling your anxiety lessen a bit.