Hyperventilating with excitement.
It’s been a busy year so far. And thank goodness. When you’ve got your own business you want busyness. You want days filled with work. You want the exact opposite of sitting idle.
But – you do need a break.
I’ve got a 2 week holiday coming up. Road trippin’ down south with a dear friend. A friend whom I don’t get to see all that often. So as I’m sure you can imagine, I’m beside myself with excitement. The type of excitement that sees you shrieking and almost hyperventilating at the thought of being away, no plans, no schedule, no demands.
And so it was mid shriek that I had a realisation – my intense excitement in the upcoming was actually taking me very much away from what I was experiencing right now. I realised – I was being anything but PRESENT.
One thing that pains me is when I hear people so desperate and so needing a holiday. Where life revolves around just getting through life until the next holiday. It’s such in insult for what life is. Don’t you think? Of course holidays and breaks are incredible, but they shouldn’t come at the expense of everyday life. If our perception of everyday life is that it’s second rate to a holiday, well, then there’s something wrong with everyday life.
The expectations, the daydreams, the anticipation. While natural and ultimately expected it does come at a cost – it robs us of right now.
So, in noticing that I was being what I’d rather not be, I chose to take responsibility and actively got present.
And this is how:
- Firstly I notice I’m not being present. I bring myself back. I say ‘I’m back’. I tune in to my surroundings. I sit up and pay attention to right now.
- I bring joy to the little things I’m doing. Even things like emptying the dishwasher. I can get so caught up in, quick, do it quickly so I can get to the next thing. I notice im doing this, I take a deep breath and slow down. I attempt to treat the littlest things with respect.
- I do my gratitudes for right now. For everything in the moment.
- I fill myself up with the tasks and moments of today. I bring my full attention to them. While of course tomorrow, or the next day, or the holiday pops in, I acknowledge it and then concentrate on right now.
- I get balanced i.e Kinesiology!
Doing the above is working wonders at keeping me present which is why I wanted to share them with you.
Believe me when I say though – all of the above is a work in progress. I certainly haven’t perfected it. But in getting aware of not being present it’s helping me to be more present. Make sense?
I’d also like to note – that it was while practicing yoga during the week that most of this blog post was written in my head – which just goes to show, I’ve still got a little way to go with the whole being present. But hey – as a result I got to tune in, do some work and stretch and breathe: all at the same time. Always a silver lining.
Photo thanks to Pinterest http://pinterest.com/clarey22/blog-quotes-inspiration/
