Prayers for this new day. It is yours ! Treat it well; honor your soul with a blessing of forgiveness. Give yourself the grace of knowing that you are enough."
Spring time has been blooming among us, and summer vibes are already beginning to create a symphony of ALIVENESS in the air!! This season brings a sense of creativity, new beginnings, and a feeling of being ALIVE. By the time winter ends, I think many of us are itching to get out of our hibernation and seasonal depression! We long for sunlight!!
For me, as summer approaches I have more energy and eagerness to be out and about, socializing more, and filling my schedule up with various activities. Simultaneously, the introvert in me gets lost in the busy-ness. I've been noticing that I have a slight feeling of overwhelm that may perhaps catch up to me if I don't balance my time with nourishing self-care.
In my journaling this morning, I took note of my feeling of overwhelm.... yet.... I also took note of my immense gratitude for my life. No complaints on my end for the ways in which I have been filling my time, nor any regret for the things I am engaging my energy into.
I watered my blooming thoughts with so much appreciation.
I know the power of intention and attention. I chose to be pro-active and allot myself assigned days off over the course of the next couple weeks. I also chose to reframe my overwhelm to a sense of gratitude for my life. I have so much to be grateful for! As I closed my eyes to enter into a brief few minutes of inner silence, I said over and over "Thank you for my life. Thank you for this day. Thank you for allowing me to exist."
I have the opportunity each day to check in with my emotions and ask them what they are wanting me to know. What is my approaching anxiety telling me....? Well, a few things... It's telling me to find balance, to slow down and include self care in my schedule, to become more present, to evaluate what is true and what is not, to focus my attention on one thing at a time....
Evaluating what is true and what is not has been an interesting act of mindfulness that has led me to more peace. My feelings are valid (so are yours!).... yet what the mind interprets the feelings as is not always true. For example: my feelings say, "You are overwhelmed. Slow down." My mind says, "I don't have enough time for self-care. Something's wrong. I can't keep up with my activities and feel good." This truly is a great way to practice mindfulness with our emotions. How my mind wants to create beliefs from feelings is something I need to slow down, look at and take the time to reframe. It's all about perspective. Feelings can be a source of intuition. What is our intuition asking of us? This is wisdom!!
I found great heart-centered awareness in offering appreciation to life this morning and to myself. This opened my heart and was the only thing I could center my mind on the ground me. Once my heart opened, I was able to listen and observe. I noticed the mind chasing various thoughts of responsibilities and to-do's. I'd write them down to capture them. I DIDN'T WANT TO FORGET! Gosh-darnit, for those who know what it's like to stay on top of your productivity, it's an awful feeling forgetting something. My ADD recently has had me forgetting commitments. But.... I continued to sit with the monkey-mind and get focused on the breath.
Within my silence, I was led to a visualization of a pair of two hands held out receiving purifying water. I was with a young girl. This young girl was me. Together we washed our hands clean and we took the water over our faces. It was very refreshing. I tuned into the little girl. She hugged me with such love. I felt her love. I asked her how she was. She said, "I'm so scared." I continued to asked what that was about and why. First she didn't know why; she was so overwhelmed with the feelings that she just seemed uncertain why she was scared. Finally, she said, "I'm so scared letting others down and think I always am upsetting others." I told her it makes sense why she felt scared, but that I am currently learning as an adult that we really can only do the best we can in each moment and only truly have control and responsibility over our own feelings. I told her we need to forgive ourselves. I told her I forgave her. We held hands. A radiant light began to wash upon our heads and we floated into the light. I told her have a beautiful day.
Forgive yourself!!!!
I am choosing to water my mind with appreciation, with forgiveness and with self-love. As this season grows and summer comes upon us, let's not forget we are the gardeners of our minds. The seeds we sow cultivate into the garden we experience.
I am weeding thoughts of low-self esteem. I am pulling out feelings of imperfection and watering thoughts of worthiness. This is the time to cultivate you garden of the beautiful SOUL that you are. Everything that grows is representative of what you have been sowing. I believe we all can grow LOVE. Yet, at the same time, if we are struggling and what is growing is hard to weed through .... we have to trust that we are learning and growing. It takes time, sometimes, to sift through the weeds.
I found my peace in expressing gratitude the past few days. I didn't know what to do with the aliveness in my body, and I felt ungrounded. The thing I could put most my attention on was appreciation. You are worth your own appreciation!! I hope you find the willingness to say, "Thank you!". Thank you for life. Thank you for this moment. Thank you for the breath. Thank you for each and every moment to grow and learn. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
