Can it be almost October?

I was shocked when I went to my blog this morning and realized June was my last post! Yikes. Where did the time go? Obviously I have been busy, distracted, thinking of other things and I was amazed that 3 mos have gone by.

As they say, time flies whether you are paying attention or not. Or is it time flies whether you're having fun or not? I think either one would work. I don't really want time to fly though. I want to be mindful and savor every minute. On the post 50 side of life, every moment becomes so precious.

How can I remind myself of this? How can I live this principal? One way is by practicing mindfulness in all my activities. I've been taking the time in the morning and before bed to type up my script for the day (morning) and my gratitude for the day (night). This has helped me to stay focused, knowing what I want for my day and then acknowledging all the wonderful things that occured at day's end. This technique has kept me focused and mindful and more joyous. When I would just wake up and not consciously focus on what I would do that day, my day evolved without me as creator. I could potentially become more victim than hero of my day's events.

I highly recommend beginning your day with some planning -- not so much of what you are going to do, but how you are going to feel all day. Think about what you have ahead of you, whether it's chores, work, or play and imagine yourself doing the things you will do feeling good. This ensures a happy outlook at the beginning of the day which typically brings about a happy day.

In the meantime, enjoy fall. It's creeping by. Enjoy each flavorful day for whatever it brings you.

Finding Peace

I am seeking peace about a couple of issues in my life. I noticed that today, Sunday, I am feeling what I would call depressed about both of these issues and sad. I felt as if I wanted to cry. I'm not real clear on the reasons for my emotional angst, but I have felt it before on Sundays. Maybe I have too much and too many expectations for my life, for what I do with my time. On Sundays when the day stretches out endlessly before me, I can become overcome with the shortness of time, of the zipping by of my weekend, of how much I didn't do that I wanted to do. Unfortunately, if I have nothing planned for the day, it feels even worse. All I can see ahead of me are the things that need to be done, that I didn't do yet, those things I don't really want to do or I am reluctant to begin, or for heaven's sake I would have done them already.

Is this malaise? Lethargy? It certainly feels joy-less. I am doing what I can to center myself and see if I can change my mood. I will share with you what I have done, in case you ever find yourself in a similar position.

Yoga. Yup. Pretty basic but I cannot tell you how much better I feel after doing an hour. For one thing it gets me focused on something else, something outside my head, something that moves my body, stretches me and forces me to endure poses that are challenging.

I feel accomplished at the end. Believe me, I am not bendy and I do yoga in a pretty rudimentary fashion. So I feel proud and good having moved my body in ways that make my limbs stretch, my muscles flex.

My brain has disengaged from the chatter about my "issues" and focused instead on breathing, my heart, my focus for my practice.

One does not have to do yoga in order to reap these benefits. A walk outside works the same results, or a bike ride or meditation. The point is to move your body, to take your focus off of what is scooting around in your head, the "monkey mind", and feel that sense of peace that comes from just simply breathing.

Let me know what works for you to find peace. Peace. Be. Still.

Developing Focus and Structure

Do you suffer as I do from that feeling of wasting a day or a specific block of time? I find myself with a free day ahead of me and my planning mind immediately decides all the things I'm going to do. Unfortunately, my basic nature of wanting to do everything means I can potentially spend the day flitting from this thing to that thing and never feel I accomplished much of anything. This activity is much like my other activity of being online and bouncing from one website to another reading interesting information, but wasting gobs of time. Today I am on a path of being Mindful, and I'm saying that with a capital letter!


I am sharing with you here my steps I followed to remain focused on my goals>

1. Decide you are going to spend a day or an afternoon mindfully selecting your activities. I made this decision this morning when I realized how many "free" days (meaning no appointments) I squander on the Internet and essentially being distracted. I decided I needed to really listen within, and not react to every 'bright shiny object'.

2. Sit someplace quiet, close your eyes and placing your hand on your heart ask -- what do I really really want to do next? I actually did this after making my list of things I wanted and needed to do today. I mindfully asked myself this question and listened to what came up. I had "clean off desk top" "do yoga" "be creative and write in your blog". I felt I was at choice and in charge of my day rather than at it's mercy.

3. Once you have written the items down, decide how long you will do each one. I used a timer because it really helps me stay focused to hear that tick, tick tick! Giving myself 15 minutes to clean off my desk meant I was decisive and deliberate and not likely to get side-tracked checking email. Instead of an endless amount of time, I had a deadline. I guess I work well with a deadline!

4. Be good to yourself and allow for spontaneity. In my initial listing of items, I included "fun" and "free time". After I had finished a few tasks, a friend called to invite me to go see a movie. Well there was fun and free time all in one! Of course I went and had a great time.

5. Congratulate yourself on what you did accomplish. I checked off and crossed off each item which made me feel accomplished. At the end of the day of course there were more items, but they will carry over or they just were'nt that important. I know I was being truthful to my needs and I felt good about my day.


What I realized today is how easily I can be distracted! And I'm starting to appreciate how much of this behavior is my avoidance of things I feel afraid to do. Now I don't mean some huge scary fear, but that deep-seated fear that I'm not really good enough; I'm not worthy of the good that could come to me by doing these things. What if I had to really burst through my barriers and just get out there and SHINE!! How would that be? A little scary? Yes, I think sometimes it is to me. So I don't get started when I really want to, or I water the plants, have a snack, email a friend. OK things to do, but I'm allowing myself distraction rather than the joy that comes from completion by way of focus and awareness.

Overall, I felt on task. Then when life happened I was also able to go with the flow. Mmmm...my mantra right now, to be in the flow.