Everyone is talking about the new normal. No one really knows what that will look like. Currently, normal, at least for me and most people I know, is staying home, staying within the confines of our own personal space, and going outside of that only for necessities. Today is day 49 of “staying at home” 95% of the time. You know how you feel on Sundays, knowing you have to go back to work on Monday morning?
I will never again tell my kids that I am proud of them. So, you might be assuming that I’m one of those people who thinks we praised our kids too much and that’s why the millenials turned out so lazy and entitled. Um, no, I am NOT one of those people. But, I’m not proud of my kids for what they’ve done.
Where I live, it’s been so dreary lately – rain, clouds, and gloomy weather are the norm. Sometimes, in the middle of winter or during a long stint of this kind of weather, we can get into a slump. We feel sluggish and can’t seem to get out of this funk.
I bet you do something special for your loved ones on Valentine’s Day and even on lots of other days that aren’t “Hallmark Holidays.” So, can I assume that you do special things for yourself on these days too? Because you ARE one of your loved ones, right? Ok, so you’re saying, well…...sorta, yeah. Maybe it’s more likely that you put yourself last.
So, it’s 2020 – how did THAT HAPPEN? Right? Since it’s the beginning of this new year and with “vision” being the topic of the year (20-20 vision), I thought it would be great to work on our own Clear Vision by creating a vision board. Wouldn’t you like to motivate yourself to reach your goals by visualizing your dreams coming true? All motivation is welcomed by me!!
A lot of holidays are associated with gift giving and receiving, and for me, that brings to mind the feeling of having enough. During this time of year, there is a huge focus on stuff - buying stuff to give to others,stuff to decorate our homes, stuff to wear for holiday events, stuff to take to holiday events, stuff to host events, etc. etc. etc. Many of us will be out the night before the holiday, buying more stuff, because it never seems like enough. Can we ever have enough stuff?
The holidays are right around the corner (seriously, time does not stop flying)! When I started thinking about the holidays this year, a sadness came over me. I figured a lot of others were feeling the same way. As I sat down to write this post and looked deeper into these feelings, I realized that the holidays really do bring up a lot of emotions.
You know those times when you’re on edge and unable to focus and you either sleep a lot or can’t sleep at all? There are a lot of reasons we might see these things playing out in our lives; one that seems to show up a lot is emotional exhaustion.
Before I started meditating, I wasn’t sure what meditation really was. Like me, you might think it’s new age “woo woo” stuff, sitting on the floor, legs crossed, eyes closed repeating a “mantra” over and over. You may be hearing a lot more about meditation and mindfulness lately and wonder, “Hmm, is there really a meditation practice that would work for me?”
You may have thought that once you got to middle age, life would get a little calmer. Now that we don’t have kids to take care of, follow up with, or transport all over town, things should settle down. But, for many of us, there are other things keeping us busy and adding more stress – aging parents, aging homes, aging bodies. It might be time to find our way to inner calm and continue our pursuit of peace.