Run, Laugh, Eat, Repeat

When I am expecting something to happen, I experience anxiety.  This anxiety settles in my shoulders, in my chest and in my core.  I find I need to release that anxiety differently than I have in the past.  Sometimes a small prayer of thanks releases it.  Other times I need to meditate it out of my body.  Wise words were shared with me recently that explained anxiety as being attached to the future.  Being anxious about something that is going to happen. When I bring myself back to the present, it helps release that anxiety by focusing on the present.  My breathing, being grateful, no expectations only gratitude for this moment. And sometimes it really works.  It feels so much better than the pressure I put on my body in holding on to those emotions.  Wow!  Release … it feels like a miracle… the ability to send that anxiety off in its own little bubble… into the air. Another way I find I'm able to center myself is by asking the...

I have a wonderful habit of making up details of how things will turn out even when I have no idea what the truth actually is … or how it actually unfold … Does everyone do this same thing?  I've heard others say that when people are not given enough information, they make up the parts that they don't know.  Just so they have an answer.   And this is completely along the same lines. When you expect a phone call and it doesn't come you're pretty sure that person has driven off the road and is in a ditch somewhere.  Or maybe I'm the only one who does that.  I assumed all these years that it was my impatience that was the culprit here.  But perhaps it's my desire to know the rest of the story.  To have the details.  To put the pieces together in my mind until they make sense. My mind works that way.  It wants things to make sense.  Perhaps not always logically, but to have a sequence - an order that allows a synchronized flow. ...

I find myself in an interesting situation where we are snowed in with over nine inches of new snow and sub-zero temperatures and fierce winds.  Sunday was all about making soup, bread and roasting vegetables for the week.  I didn't venture outside whatsoever. And then the call came that the area is pretty well shut down on Monday.  School, public buildings, even my place of employment … a bonus day!  An extra day to the weekend that comes without an commitment or obligation to complete anything.  Now that's not something that happens all the time - rarely is more the case. What do I do with this new bonus day?  I'd only imagined that these days would be granted in the past. And now I have one upon me.  Oh, the opportunity for adventure .. well, that is, adventure that must take place within my home. There's all those books I could make progress on, my knitting, spending even more 'weekend' time with my daughter … all those choices. Choices ...

I watched the movie Perks of a Wallflower on Saturday night.  It was a haunting reminder of high school and how I didn't fit in.  It was sweet, honest and cut to the core of what happens when one feels alone.  Alone in a way that you are convinced that no other soul could possibly identify with.  And yet, it seems there must be so many of us that have felt that.  Especially back then. What about adulthood?  What about when you have a mortgage and a career, even a spouse and children.  Are there times it is acceptable to feel like you don't fit in? Whether it's acceptable or not, it  happens.  There are times when I'm sure I'm the only one who could possibly be feeling the way I do.  Left out.  Alone.  Hiding even. And those are times of perseverance and tremendous growth.  They are times when I need to reach deep within and listen to my heart.  My gut even.  Although that works best for initial reaction...

Did you ever have one of those moments where you're joyful, on the inside - where it counts, and you cannot for the life of you put your finger on why you feel that way?  That's exactly how I've started today. I feel lighter.  Happier.  More whole.  Does that even make sense?  Maybe it doesn't, but I feel it! I'm racking my brain to figure out what happened yesterday, last night or during my sleep .. and yet I didn't make a conscious choice to feel this way, it just happened.  It is joy.  That's it.  I can feel it.  It's calm, it's peaceful, it's a feeling rooted in joy - way deep inside! Yes, I ran today.  That may be part of it.  And better than that (at least for me in an achieving goals sort of way) I have had two terrific weeks of running.  Through today I have 12 miles logged fro the week - with tomorrow a potential 4 mile run.  And last week was a total of 18!  I've come a long way … and I have a long...

There are days that I'm really hard on myself.  My expectations are set so high to accomplish so much within an inadequate time period.  And yet, I continue to expect more. One of my observations of late is wondering what things would look like if people were kinder to each other.  I continue to focus on the kindness expressed by others, and to look for opportunities to do the same.  And I realize that I should start by being kind to myself. What would being kinder to myself look like? Kinder to myself as I age and things don't seem to work like they used to?  Kinder to myself in my self-imposed expectations - for work, for motherhood, for fitness goals?  All of the above! I'm choosing to be kinder to myself through a daily meditation.  As I begin each day I pray, I meditate, I breath deeply in the same place, at the same time.  I began over the past couple days to incorporate this meditation which I will now look at as the opportun...

Oh, how apropos this morning to have my topic be the strategy for getting out of a funk!  The day after a holiday in the middle of the week … new month, new year … and about six inches of freshly fallen snow on the ground.  Which would be wonderful if it was a Saturday morning … but it's a Thursday and there's the commute to work, the traffic, the sidewalks … and the looming headache that hangs overhead due to the storm. How can I turn this day around?  Get out of the funk!!! 1.  Best way I know how to get out of a funk is GET OUTSIDE!  Go for a walk, breathe in fresh air, clear your mind. 2.  Run.  Headphones on. Lose yourself in the music.  Run. Fast…. on the treadmill. 3.  Say a prayer.  Deep breath.  Meditate.  Stretch. 4.  Laugh!  Find a friend that makes you laugh, who knows you well, and carve out a few minutes with them. 5.  Read a book, take a shower, move, do something other than think a...