Intention: calm, reflection.
Taking pauses in daily life is often a challenge for me. Pausing feels unproductive; an opportunity for my brain chatter to kick in full force. Sometimes, it feels in the moment that it escalates my anxiety, rather than quelling it!
However, pausing is often the only tool that allows me to move past my “surface buzz” and into a place of true feeling. Those first few breaths of not doing often feel excruciating. But when I challenge myself to move deeper into my discomfort, rather than hightail it away, something else often emerges.
So today, I invite you to move deeper. Past an initial aversion to just being. And I invite you to have an inner dialogue, rather than trying to turn off your thoughts. Perhaps it’s “Oh hi, anxiety! What’s going on there? What’s underneath your distracted and frenetic energy?” Or maybe it’s “Hi, body! Anything to tell me today? What’s happening in there?” Things don’t have to take long to change; rewiring neural pathways can be as simple as questioning a thought, rather than believing it. Here’s to reflection.
Highlights:
- Sunrise! My first in a very long time. And on a river boat cruise, no less. ❤
- Great mid-morning conversation with my mom, reflecting on our pasts chronicled through the decades (we journeyed back 10 – 20 – 30 – 40 – 50 – 60 years!).
- Having a real “day off,” and feeling the insecurity and discomfort and simultaneous pleasure in simply being so sensorily aware: gazing out at the water, watching the sun blaze bright and strong, feeling the variation of the breeze and temperatures as the boat twisted and turned down the river.
The Generosity Chronicles 